


The 'Great' Kings

by sehoWishes



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Royalty, Christianity, Coming Out, Dysfunctional Family, Implied/Referenced Homophobia, M/M, Mentions of conversion therapy, Yaoi, mature - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-18
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:26:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 13
Words: 48,506
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25982065
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sehoWishes/pseuds/sehoWishes
Summary: Two kingdoms, with a shared past of bloody war followed by over two decades of oppression of one by the other, are on the path to mend their relations. Is it possible amidst unreasonable beliefs, prejudices and secrets?
Relationships: Kim Junmyeon | Suho/Oh Sehun
Comments: 17
Kudos: 92





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hi everyone! This is a work that I have started on asianfanfics and I thought why not share it here as well.
> 
> It is about my favourite protagonists: Kim Junmyeon and Oh Sehun. We are going in the past times and exploring the world of dysfunctional royal families. Let me put it out there that there will be discrepancies in historical facts and forgive me if you are sensitive to those.
> 
> Let me also put it out there that I am Junmyeon biased, like big time. And it will show up in my writing unabashedly. I adore Oh Sehun to bits and other EXO members too but a bit less. So, I hope for your understanding on that. Almost all the EXO members will be a part of the story but as and when they fit the narrative. There is a very good chance some of them might not show up in the story at all. So, please take no offence to that. And there will be no other pairing between the members apart from Kim Junmyeon and Oh Sehun because all of them are straight (⊙︿⊙ yeah I know but I have my reasons which will hopefully become clear as the story progresses.)
> 
> As usual I would like to point out that english is not my first language so I hope for leniency and tolerance.
> 
> DISCLAIMER: Even though all the characters partly draw inspiration from real people, I have taken liberties to depict characteristics and events that are fictitious. I have no intentions to hurt anyone.

In the late 16th century, when the world map was constituted of clearly demarcated but dynamically changing kingdoms, there were two kingdoms that had seen the worst and longest battle of their times. Those kingdoms were Angoratalamh and Caponterre. 

Both kingdoms had suffered thousands of casualties and their treasures had dried up over the span of 2 years that the battle lasted. People of both kingdoms felt relief after the declaration of signing of a peace treaty but for the people of Angoratalamh the peace was short-lived.

The war had ended in the defeat of the kingdom of Angoratalamh. Though the king and the royal family were not overthrown, the treaty required the state to take full responsibility for the war and the damages it caused and required surrendering to the rule by the kingdom of Caponterre. This essentially meant excessive taxes for the people of the defeated kingdom and gradual dissolution of their army. 

Now, after over 22 years since that unfair treaty was signed, the palace of Angoratalamh had received a message informing them that the royal family of Caponterre wished to stay in their palace for an undefined time and hoped to be treated as distinguished guests during the visit. Clearly it was no request but an order. 

And that’s how the king, queen and two princes of Angoratalamh found themselves waiting to greet and welcome the royal family of Caponterre at the entrance of their own residing palace, uncertain what to expect from the sudden visit and fearing if they were going to be finally banished from their land.

A convoy of carriages, horses and guards on foot entered the walls of the palace. The royals from Caponterre took their sweet time to dismount their carriages and horses, knowing well they could. Introductions followed.

The royal family of Caponterrer consisted of King-father Oh, King and Queen Oh, crown prince Kyungsoo, second prince Sehun and princess Ji-Ah, youngest of the three siblings. They were welcomed by King and Queen Kim, crown prince Minseok and second-in-line-to-the-throne prince Jongin from the royal family of Angoratalamh apart from tens of servants working at the palace.

Despite the grandeur of arrangements made to welcome the royal family to the palace, the eldest guest seemed dissatisfied, almost displeased. King-father Oh did not let his displeasure go unnoticed.

“I expected to receive the greetings of the entire royal family of Angoratalamh upon arrival but it seems like some people in the palace have other more important things to do.” Soft murmuring sounds could be heard from the princes and princess. However, it was clear that the man still held a position of inarguable authority despite having let his son take over the responsibilities of the throne.

“Your highness, I assure you that all the relevant members of Angoratalamh’s royal family are here to pay their greetings.” King Kim was quick to supply.

“So, you bestow royal titles on irrelevant members?” King-father Oh shot back. When only silences were returned, he continued. “I had made my distaste known about an illegitimate son with half-royal blood getting the title of prince in one of the states under our rule. However, it was disregarded and as expected the said ‘prince’ lacks the necessary courtesies.”

“Prince Jongdae has been appointed to make sure your stay at our palace is comfortable and he has been busy with the arrangements in that regard. I will make sure he pays his respect to the royal family of Caponterre in due time. Apologies for the negligence, your highness.” Prince Minseok came in support for his half-brother. And the matter was left at that for the time being.

********************************************

The two royal families, followed by tens of servants and guards, entered the palace. There was tension and distrust in the air that royal members on both sides veiled with their habitual pretentious smiles. The younger Oh siblings took the opportunity to exchange some notes.

“Would this be called intense?” The princess inquired.

“As intense as one can expect from royalty, I guess. Only wars can exceed this intensity I suppose,” Prince Sehun replied sarcastically. 

“Whatever! The two princes are handsome to look at at least. They are a bit too serious for my liking but still pleasing to the eyes. I am wondering how much more good looking the illegitimate prince would be compared to these two.”

“He may not be as good looking as these two.”

“Well, he is definitely going to be better than them.”

“And may I ask how the genius princess reached that conclusion.”

“His mother would have to be better looking than Queen Kim for the king to cheat on his wife. That means the illegitimate prince would have to be more handsome. Duh!” The princess replied like it was an obvious deduction.

Sehun clicked his tongue before retorting. “I can think of a hundred different reasons why men, and kings more so, cheat on their wives. It may not have anything to do with the beauty of the women they are sleeping with.”

Ji-Ah rolled her eyes. “Wanna bet?”

“Sure. What would you like to lose?”

“My second brother’s arrogance.”

“Not happening in this life-time.”

Before the two could continue with their bickering, they received glares from Queen Oh and Prince Kyungsoo, effectively asking them to shut up.

*******************************************  
“So where is the playroom in the palace?” Sehun sneaked up beside Jongin as soon as the princes and princess had managed to put so much distance from the elders that they were out of earshot.

Jongin looked genuinely confused. “Playroom? What is that?”

“Literally a room where you play!” Sehun supplied sarcastically.

“Play what? Instruments?” Jongin asked naively. When he received raised eyebrows in response, he continued with his guessing. “Games? Like chess?” The guess was not met with agreement but before Jongin could continue he was interrupted by the other.

“Play people!,” Sehun sounded exasperated.

“Yeah?” Jongin’s eyes went wide in shock. However, before he could stutter out his inability to understand what the other meant, his elder brother came to the rescue.

“Prince Sehun, we don’t have one.” Prince Minseok continued, “I have heard of your unconventional tendencies, but accept my apologies that we don’t allow such conduct in the premises of our palace.” The judgement in the elder’s tone ticked Sehun off the wrong way.

With a condescending chuckle he retorted, “Well that’s strange. For a palace to a king with an illegitimate son I mean.” Kyungsoo immediately jumped into the conversation, knowing it was going to a dangerous place. However, his sombre “Sehun” did not keep the young prince from continuing. “Just curious, did he do one of the servants or one of the ministers’ wife if not a concubine?”

Minseok’s face turned red with anger and Jongin was left even more shocked, if that was possible. On the other hand, Sehun did not look any less angry and ready to resort to his sword. Ji-Ah looked amused at the prospect of a fight and Kyungsoo just really wanted to dissipate the situation. 

To his short-lasting relief, at that very moment elders called for them realizing that the youngers were lagging behind. However, they were not blind to the angry expressions painting two of the princes’ faces. 

“Is everything alright?” King Oh asked warily. 

“I am afraid no.” Sehun’s reply was spontaneous. “Princes of the Kim family are far from accommodating their guests’ needs, especially the crown prince. I think I should take my leave from this palace because I would not like to impose my stay somewhere I am unwelcomed and my comforts and requirements are not met.” Sehun finished with a scowl directed towards Minseok. The other returned the glare but did not speak anything.

“Why would you leave Prince Sehun? Angoratalamh is under the rule of Caponterre, so that makes this palace your own.” King-father Oh was imposing of his authority and his words threatening. After a brief awkward silence.

“Prince Minseok, I am so disappointed in you. Is being inhospitable to our esteemed guests what your upbringing has taught you?” King Kim drew the line declaring the royal family of Caponterre as guests to his palace under the pretense of rebuking Minseok. “Prince Sehun, my apologies and my assurance of your comfortable stay at our palace. Our guests here get anything and everything they want, have I made myself clear,” the king declared to his people.

This brought a cocky smirk to Sehun’s face, who turned to look at Minseok and spoke the words aloud but directed to him particularly, “I will respect the traditions of this palace and let the King or one of the princes know if some man or woman catches my eye.” 

Some servants audibly gasped at the implication and the King and Queen of the Kim family looked appalled and unprepared of what was to come in the future. While King-father Oh nonchalantly dismissed the unorthodox requisition with “Prince Sehun is a warrior and warriors need an outlet for their aggression off the battlegrounds.”

*****************************************

The members of the royal family from Caponterre were tired from their long journey and mostly stayed resting in their respective chambers letting the next few days pass uneventfully. Some members of the royal Kim family were grateful for the breather after the first strenuous encounter and felt their nerves settling a bit.

Sehun, once he grew tired of staying in his chambers for so long, decided to explore the palace one morning. He knew the first few places he wanted to explore: the fencing ground and arsenal. Even though the state of Angoratalamh had been demilitarized for some time now, he was sure an armory was maintained within the palace for the palace guards. However, he had clearly underestimated how difficult it could be to find those places within a huge palace.

He had asked for directions a few times from the staff of the palace, at least the ones that would not run away on seeing him but he was sure he was lost after spending his entire morning looking for the places of interest. He could have asked for one of the servants to escort him if all of them had not looked so flustered and he did not want to spoil his morning by asking one of the princes to accompany him. 

In the end he could not find the arsenal or the fencing practice grounds but he did stumble upon something that looked like a library. He decided to check it out, though he had lost interest in books and scripts for some time now. He was an ardent reader until the latter part of his puberty but then just gave upon the activity when he realized how far they could be from reality. Maybe he could pick up something for his sister if anything was interesting, he thought to himself.

Unexpectedly, the library was huge both in terms of its size and its collection of books. None of the members from the Kim family looked like avid readers but looks had to be deceiving if one would see the vast catalogue of books under their possession. The library was not as lavish as other parts of the palace and could almost be described as quaint but it was definitely well looked after and calmingly quiet. He had been walking around the place for at least the last twenty minutes and surprisingly he had not come across any staff to assist him yet.

After another five minutes of wandering around he finally stumbled upon a man, servant most probably, carrying a bit too many books for his small stature. So many books that both his hands were occupied and his face could not be seen from behind the mountain of books. He could surely not see anything ahead of him but his footing was not unsure at any point. He clearly knew the place like the back of his hand. 

Sehun was so caught up with the sight that he did not notice the man walking in his direction, not until the smaller man collided with him and ended upon the floor alongside all the books that were previously secured in his hold. When the man looked up to see why he ended up falling, that’s when Sehun saw the face of the man.

A very prominent forehead, thick and well-defined eyebrows, beautiful almond-shaped deep brown eyes, a cute little nose, pouty pink and smooth lips and mochi cheeks. The man’s skin was milky pale but yet shiny smooth and there was something very innocent and pure about his delicate features. The man was beautiful, the most beautiful Sehun had ever seen.

Sehun quickly helped the man to his feet and complained how he was lost and thus happened to stumble in there. The other man did not say anything but nervously gulped quite visibly, blinking and staring openly. Sehun noticed the ordinary clothes on the man and deduced that the man must be a palace servant and surely nervous of talking in front of a prince after committing a mistake. 

“Don’t worry, it was not entirely your fault. However, next time carry only as many books as so you can still see ahead of you.”

The man surprised Sehun with his retort. “I never thought it was my fault. How could our colliding be my fault when I could not even see you and I did not expect anyone to be around. But you could see me coming and yet did not alert me of your presence.” After a little thinking and a brief pause, the man continued. “Though I understand that you might be overwhelmed by the unknown surroundings. So I agree let’s not make too much of this incident.”

Saying that the man started gathering his books from the floor. However, Sehun was stunned, not just by the man’s words but also his soft melodic voice. Sehun, still mesmerized, quietly enquired. “Are you a servant of this palace?”

That drew the attention of the man crouching on the floor. His eyes went wide for a split second and then he got up leaving the books where they were lying for a longer while. He cleared his throat and spoke, “Are you new to this palace? We have received guests from Caponterre not many days back. Perhaps you are with them?”

“Yes, I am. I see you don’t recognize me. I am Prince Sehun.” Sehun introduced himself, letting a small smile reach his lips. The other man reciprocated the smile nervously. “You have not answered my question yet. So are you a servant here?”

“Um… sure!” The man replied a bit too fidgety. Sehun thought he understood the reactions, full of nervousness, from the other man. Any meager servant would have reacted similarly to be talking to a prince.

“What is your name?” Sehun was curious and he did not hold back.

“Um… my name… name is Jang. My name is Jang.”

Sehun frowned. “Jang is your name or your family name? I mean it is usually a family name in our state.”

“You are correct, it is indeed a family name… your highness.”

“Yeah okay. Then what is your name, Mr. Jang?”

“Jing… Jing… Jing-Ri is my first name, your highness.”

Sehun pursed his lips into a thin line and then inquired seemingly seriously. “Your name is Jing-Ri Jang?” The other man nodded. Sehun could no longer hold back his chuckle. “That’s a very funny name.”

“It is indeed, your highness.” The man replied nervously scratching his nape.


	2. Chapter 2

Merely escaping getting caught by the royal guest that has been chasing him for days, the short figure quietly entered the door he was allowed to enter anytime and sighed in relief after closing the door behind himself. He leaned on the door and deep breathed in and out with his eyes closed.

When he opened his eyes he did not expect the occupant of the chamber to be staring at him with raised eyebrows. A small but audible squeak escaped him before he composed himself and tried to ask nonchalantly like his behaviour was nothing unusual.

“Prince Jongdae, I thought you were out to run errands.” 

The man squinted his eyes and questioned. “Prince, huh?” Jongdae spoke the word prince like it was some cuss word. He continued somewhat amused, not bothering to leave the desk where he had been working. “Junmyeon hyung what happened now? What trouble did you get yourself in this time?”

Junmyeon suddenly groaned, his demeanor changing to informal and then responded in a whiny tone. “I did not do anything this time, I promise. It is not my fault that he is chasing me.”

Jongdae immediately stopped chuckling after hearing the last part of Junmyeon’s reply. “Someone’s chasing you?”

Junmyeon pouted on hearing the concern in the other man’s voice and flopped down on other’s bed like it was his own. “Hmm.” He continued when he realized Jongdae was expecting him to elaborate. “Do you know about the guests from Caponterre?”

“Yeah! What about them?” Jongdae furrowed his brows considering how it could be related to his half-brother’s problem.

“One of those royal guests had put forth some untoward demands. Did you know that?”

“Wasn’t that Prince Sehun? I heard he had some heated exchange with Prince Minseok. I admired the heck out of him when I heard he got Prince Minseok reprimanded by the King.” Jongdae sounded a little too excited sharing the last bit of information.

“Minseok hyung was trying to protect the people of this palace. How can you say that when Minseok hyung did the right thing?” Junmyeon expressed, sincerely disappointed.

“Protect, my ass. Anything that gets the perfect prince an earful would make me happy. Whatever it is, I don’t care.” Jongdae said with a shrug. When he saw the disappointment on Junmyeon’s face aggravating, he tried to divert the conversation. “Anyways, why do you keep digressing. So, how is Prince Sehun related to your woes?”

“He is the one chasing me.” Jongdae’s eyes went wide, making his state of shock evident.

Trying to make sense of what he learned, Jongdae counter questioned the statement. “Why would he be chasing you? Last time I heard he was making Prince Minseok and the King search for some Jing-ri Jang and he created quite some havoc when they could not find anyone in the palace... with that name.” The last few words came out slowly as realization struck Jongdae. 

“Don’t tell me you are Jing-ri Jang!” It was not a question but a statement. Junmyeon nevertheless answered with a nod. “How in the hell, hyung?”

Junmyeon stuffed his face in the pillows to muffle his loud groan. Then sat up and narrated the incident from a few days ago. “I don’t know myself okay. I was in the library, just getting some books I needed and next thing I know I collided with a tall man standing in the middle of the library like a rock. 

Initially, I thought he was just a servant of the palace and I got scared that he would tell on me to the King because I was not supposed to be there. Just when I thought he seemed chill, he asked me if I was a servant. That’s when I noticed that he was not really dressed like a servant and realization dawned on me that he might be one of our royal guests. So, I lied about being a servant and came up with whatever name I could. 

Not even in my wildest nightmares had I thought that the incident would come back to bite me in my ass. These days as soon as I step outside my chambers, he somehow finds me and starts chasing me. I am not even kidding, he is literally everywhere I go.”

Jongdae’s jaw dropped in shock. “Shit! He has got interested in you. Why did you lie about being a servant? You literally made yourself accessible. He would have never asked for you if he knew you were a prince.”

“He would have never believed me if I had told him I was a prince of Angoratalamh. And by any minuscule chance if he had believed me, how would our father had explained the existence of a prince no one outside the walls of this palace knows about.” Junmyeon, lowering his eyes, sadly spoke the next words almost in a whisper. “I would have been punished beyond our imagination.”

Understanding reflected in Jongdae’s expressions. “So are you going to hide like this forever?”

“If I stay in my chambers for a while the Prince might eventually forget about me.” Junmyeon did not sound too sure himself but the earlier sadness in his features had disappeared and he was looking back at Jongdae in the eye.

“I hope that happens because rumors say some ugly things about deviations in his sexual behaviour.”

“Do you mean his preference for both men and women?”

Jongdae let out a sound of disapproval. “I mean how he ‘plays’ with men. He doesn’t really do much with women but men… “ after a brief pause and thinking through how much he should let Junmyeon know, Jongdae continued “don’t come out unscathed. And the injuries as far as I know are not from any kind of sexual activities.”

Junmyeon’s brows furrowed after hearing that. “Then what does he do to them?”

Jongdae rolled his eyes when his simple and naive brother did not pick on the implication and spelled it out for him. “He likes to beat them up with raw hands.”

“What? Really?”

“Yeah, that’s what the rumors say.”

“He wants to beat me up? And he is so diligently chasing after me to beat me up?”

“So were you thinking he fell in love with you at first sight and was thus chasing you or what?”

“Noo… I never said that. I mean of course he is not in love with me. I just thought he wanted to… you know.”

“Hyung!” Jongdae sounded repulsed even by the thought. 

“What? He is tall and hot.” Junmyeon defended but the explanation was beyond Jongdae’s comprehension.

“You idiot! lay low for a while. If you get caught any time just tell him you are a prince and we will deal with the consequences later.”

“We?” Junmyeon’s face lit up. Before Jongdae could say anything, Junmyeon continued “You are the best brother in the entire universe Dae. I love you so much.” 

“Even better than your real brothers?” Jongdae asked quietly.

“You are as much of a brother to me as Minseok hyung and Jongin. What does real and non-real brother even mean? And yes among all three, you are my personal favourite and the best. The absolute best.” Junmyeon replied without any hesitation and a bright smile gracing all his features, casually flopping down on his back. Jongdae did his best to hide the smile that reached his lips.

When Jongdae knew he could control the smile that Junmyeon’s words had brought to his lips, he inquired, “So roaming all around the palace is your definition of laying low? And I thought you were supposed to stay in your chambers to escape Prince Sehun.”

“I was not wandering around the palace, okay. I was just trying to go to the dispensary. I have been trying to reach the dispensary for the last several days now but that Prince pops around one or the other corner. He has got to have the vision of a hawk that he happens to see me from even a mile away.” 

Junmyeon went on rambling and Jongdae had to interrupt him. “You needed something urgent from the dispensary?”

“Yeah. I needed to prepare a herbal medicine for ahjumma. The medicine the physician gave her did not help with her abdomen cramps at all. So, I had prepared one for her some time back and it helped a little but did not cure the pain completely. I think I know what might be of better help. So, I wanted to visit the dispensary and prepare it for her.”

Jongdae scrunched his nose in displeasure. “Again! Which ahjumma is it this time?”

“The head of all my helps, the one who takes care of me all the time.”

“You mean the one appointed by the king to keep an eye on you 24/7.” Junmyeon refused to meet Jongdae’s eye. So Jongdae continued, “Stop treating those servants around you as your friends. They are like your prison guards. They are there to make sure you don’t escape your chamber and this palace.”

Junmyeon immediately came in support of the people in question. “But they never tell on me whenever I escape my chamber and wander around the palace. You do realize every time I do that and they let me do it without informing the King, they are putting their necks out for me. Dae, they are all good people who try to support me in every little way they can.”

“Just like Prince Minseok and Prince Jongin? Don’t they also go as far as it does not affect themselves?” Jongdae shot back.

“I don’t want any of them to get hurt because of me. And that includes you too.” Junmyeon countered quietly.

“Well, very bad then. Because either I don’t care or I go all out. And for you, I will always go beyond my capacity, whether you like it or not.” Jongdae stated matter of factly.

Mixed emotions of guilt and gratitude painted Junmyeon’s face. Guilt because he was burdening his younger brother, who had enough troubles of his own. And gratitude for the sense of security and belonging the other made him feel. Jongdae did not miss either of those emotions. 

“Now don’t you start crying. And stop looking at me like that.” Jongdae faked annoyance, which brought a small smile to the other’s lips.

Junmyeon tried to swallow the lump in his throat while getting up from other’s bed. “I should get going. It is already getting dark and Prince Sehun must have left by now.”

“What if he hasn’t?” Junmyeon looked at Jongdae questioningly. “Stay the night in my chamber.”

Junmyeon tried his best to contain his excitement and shot back a question at the other. “Will you make me sleep on the couch?”

“Have I ever made you sleep on the couch even when you infiltrate my chamber forcefully?” Jongdae was quick to retort with his own question.

“You have threatened me.” Junmyeon pouted, remembering some incidents from the past.

“But never went through with any of those threats.”

“In that case, we are having a sleepover tonight. It has been too long since we had one.” Junmyeon smiled his thousand megawatt smile, one that could even blind the sun. And casually flopped back on the bed. Jongdae almost groaned thinking why he got himself into it.

After staying laid on the bed for a while as Jongdae continued with reading some paperwork on his desk, Junmyeon spoke up. “Dae, let’s sleep early.”

“Why?”

“I want to wake up early tomorrow.”

“Again why?”

“I think I will be able to go to the dispensary early in the morning without crossing paths with that prince.”

“You are not going to give up, will you?” Junmyeon did not have to answer that or explain himself because Jongdae knew him like the back of his hand. “Fine, scoot over.” Jongdae spoke casually while walking over to his bed. 

As soon as he was settled on his back, he felt arms and legs entangling around his torso and thighs respectively. He could feel how Junmyeon’s body instantly relaxed around him. 

“Good night Dae. Sleep well.” Junmyeon spoke sweetly.  
“Good night hyung.” After silence had lingered for some time and Junmyeon was about to slip into slumber, Jongdae spoke up. “Hyung, wake me up in the morning before you leave. I will accompany you to the dispensary.” Junmyeon’s body further relaxed against his own.

Jongdae may not know how to accept Junmyeon’s affection or return it but that did not mean he did not love him back. How could he not appreciate the only person who cared for him and accepted him since he was just a kid. Junmyeon was his family, the only family he ever had. Without him he would have been lost in the big palace surrounded by hundreds of people, none giving a shit about him, without a mother or a ‘real’ father. Junmyeon was not just his brother, but also the only parently figure he had known, though the other was just sixteen months older than him.


	3. Chapter 3

“I just saw him again.” Sehun entered the hall seething in anger and shouting at the top of his voice. “The guy I have been asking for days definitely exists and exists in the realms of this palace. So stop with your bullshit and get me the young man.”

Minseok let out an exasperated sigh and muttered under his breath, “Here he goes again.”

Minseok and Jongin had invited their young guests to a game of cards to accompany the evening tea in the great hall of the palace, hoping it would be a good ice breaker for the princes and princess of the two states. They were looking for an opportunity to mingle with the members from the royal family of Caponterre and maybe learn the intentions behind the sudden visit. 

Minseok had a bad feeling about the royal guests staying mostly to themselves, denying every invite to eat or spend any time with the royal family of Angoratalamh, and it had been almost ten days since their arrival. The journey could not have been that tiring.

So, when Jongin suggested the idea to invite only the young members of the family for an evening of socializing, Minseok instantly agreed. Truthfully, the elder had been reluctant to spend any more time with Sehun after dealing with his stubbornness and tantrums for a number of past days. But he could not afford to be rude at the time, knowing well how grave the consequences can turn out to be. 

Gladly, their invite was accepted by Kyungsoo on behalf of all the three siblings, with Kyungsoo and Ji-Ah showing up on time but Sehun missing. Minseok was almost relieved that he would not have to deal with the younger prince who was nothing but a pain in the ass with his one track mind.

For the past several days, Sehun ‘wanted’ a servant named Jing-ri Jang who works in the library. First of all, no servant of the palace was an object that could be ‘wanted’, so Minseok was not willing to give the obnoxious prince what he ‘wanted’. And second of all, even if he had to do it following the orders from his father, how was he supposed to find someone that did not exist. Forget the library, there was no servant in the palace that went by the name Jing-ri Jang, period. 

It was not impossible that Sehun had got the name of the servant wrong, so adhering to the responsibility bestowed upon him by his father of pleasing their guests, he had asked Sehun for the description of the said servant. However, despite all his sincere efforts they could not find a man that would fit Sehun’s description. At this point, Minseok was convinced that either the man was just messing with him or he was crazy and imagining people.

So, when Sehun entered, raining on their parade, Minseok was on the verge to snap. Thankfully, before he could actually do it, Kyungsoo reprimanded his brother.

“Enough Sehun. Not again, please.” His tone was strict and words precise. “Prince Minseok has done beyond necessary to find your boy toy but you are crossing all limits of civility now. When he says that the one you are looking for is not someone living in the palace, then that is that.”

“Hyung, but he is clearly lying. I just saw the man again with my own eyes, while I was on my way here.” Sehun defended himself, trying to make his brother believe him.

“Sehun!” The anger was much more evident in Kyungsoo’s tone now. 

“Hyung, are you going to trust a prince of Angoratalamh over my word?” Sehun was genuinely hurt.

“It’s not like that.” Kyungsoo’s tone softened. “It’s just that even I have never seen the man you keep describing.” After a brief pause while thinking, Kyungsoo suggested. “Fine, you spot the man every now and then, isn’t it? Next time you see that man, bring him to me and I will believe you that the man exists. Whether the man comes with his own will or you need to drag him all the way, I don’t care, just show me the man and I will believe you.”  
“Do you think I have not thought of doing that myself? But that man is slick. He disappears in the blink of an eye.”

“Then catch him before you blink your eyes.” Sehun groaned in frustration.

Princess Ji-Ah spoke up for the first time since his brother’s dramatic entry. “Is he really all that for you to be going this crazy over him?” 

“Hell yes! He was so damn beautiful.” Sehun said dreamily, mesmerized just from thinking about the man with the porcelain white skin and soft-kind eyes who refuses to leave his mind. He was so engrossed in his own thoughts that he did not notice Minseok giving him a questioning glare and Kyungsoo suddenly turning nervous, not knowing what to say for cover up. 

“So like, are you jealous and angry that he is better looking than you? Are you going to fight him for just being pleasing to the eyes?” Princess Ji-Ah questioned, unknowingly helping out his elder brother.

That broke Sehun’s trance. With a deep inhale of air and his features turning sombre, he replied “What I do with him is none of your own business.” 

Ji-Ah whined, “If you are going to beat up every good looking guy, where am I supposed to find guys to knock me up.” It was only after she had let that slip in front of the stranger princes, did she realize the scandalousness of her statement. Her embarrassed smile was the only reply to Jongin’s wide eyes and Minseok’s shocked face. She was lucky to not have already heard an earful from his elder brother for her loose tongue. However, her elder brother was too focused on looking solemnly towards Sehun, whose questioning eyes were looking right back. 

*******************************  
“Their entire family is filled with crazy people. One prince beats up innocent people for no good reason, the crown prince encourages his delinquency and the princess wants to get fucked. And don’t even get me started on the elders of that sick royal family. They only stay in their chambers, god knows doing what.” Minseok had reached the limit of his patience and could no longer hold himself back from letting out his frustration in a single breath, once he was alone with Jongin.

“Is princess wanting a little romance in her life as bad as all the other things on that list?” Jongin asked timidly, not sure himself why he was coming in defense of the princess. Minseok just glared at his younger brother for interrupting his rant, who immediately lowered his eyes.  
After calming himself down a bit, Minseok asked what was on his mind. “Where does he keep seeing someone that does not exist?”

The question snapped Jongin out of his thoughts about Ji-Ah. Gathering his earlier thoughts on the issue his brother just raised, Jongin asked “Are you sure there is no man in the palace that fits his description?”

“We looked into every servant in the palace, didn’t we? Even though I did not want someone to fit his description, I know I did a sincere job of looking for anyone who could.”

Jongin opened his mouth, like he wanted to say something but closed it soon after, leaving the conversation at that. He had an unsettling feeling in his gut about the fact that they had considered every male servant in the palace but definitely not every man in the palace. But he did not voice it out, fearing if his speaking would manifest those fears into reality.

************************

Next morning Jongdae dropped Junmyeon at the dispensary’s entrance, which was situated in a separate division of the palace, before he left to run some errands in the capital city of the kingdom. However, he did not forget to ask Junmyeon about his schedule. “When do you think you will be done with your work here?”

“Not before evening for sure. I need to collect all the needed ingredients from the palace’s herb farm and then preparation of the medicine will also take considerable time. I need to distill the mixture…” as Junmyeon enthusiastically started explaining further, Jongdae interrupted him.

“Cool, wait for me if you finish before my return. I will accompany you back. Don’t even go near the residential quarters of the palace on your own.” Jongdae spoke in a threatening tone. But Junmyeon simply smiled back at his younger brother’s poorly concealed concern beneath those words and then cheerfully replied, “Aye aye Captain!”

Jongdae squinted his eyes before continuing with his instructions, “I know you like working at the dispensary and finding new cures with those herbal plants. So have fun but don’t overwork yourself.”

Junmyeon was almost grinning now and reached out to pinch Jongdae’s cheeks. “I won’t. You have a good day too and return safely. I will see you in the evening. Bye!” With that being said, Junmyeon proceeded to enter the dispensary, all the while waving at Jongdae happily until he disappeared from his vision. Jongdae left his spot only when he was sure that Junmyeon was safely inside.

Junmyeon was busy the whole day working in the dispensary. He even helped the junior physicians with diagnosing the symptoms of some of the patients and prescribing appropriate cures. All the patients were workers in the palace as the dispensary only catered to the royal family, their servants, the palace guards and only in extreme circumstances the ministers of the royal court. But none of these people knew who Junmyeon really was. 

There was only a small group of servants and guards in the palace who knew about the existence of another prince and none of these patients belonged to that clique. So, Junmyeon was not in any danger of the King finding out about his escapade from one of these patients. 

As far as workers at the dispensary were concerned, a handful of them knew about Junmyeon’s title but he did not have to worry about any of them. The head physician had known Junmyeon since he was a child, in fact taught him most of the things he knew about medicines and healing, and held the young prince in high regard for his capabilities in the field. He would never let any of his subordinates cause any trouble for Junmyeon.

So, like a carefree bird flying in the sky, he worked around the dispensary and then proceeded to the herb farm to get some necessary supplies. He had not even in his wildest dreams imagined that his safe haven was where his doom was approaching.

********************************

Sehun had been feeling some kind of uneasiness in his stomach for some days now but when he woke up just a little before noon time that day, his stomach was aching and later his bowel movements had caused him pain too. It was probably just due to change in climate or air or water or food or all. Yet, he decided that it was time to get some treatment before things turned worse. So, he stepped out of his chamber looking for a servant who could tell him where to find help.

He found none. It could be just coincidence but Sehun felt that the servants usually kept their distance from him. Probably scared of what they had heard from him and about him but he was not one to linger on such thoughts for long. Such thoughts got him nowhere.

He was almost relieved to see Jongin passing by but became hesitant the very next moment to ask for help. However, he decided to keep the embarrassment of letting a royal from Angoratalamn know about his stomach woes aside when he failed to control a very stinky fart. He really needed some medicine.

“Hello Prince Jongin.” Sehun asked not really in the mood for chit chat.

“Hello Prince Sehun. How are you doing today?” Jongin asked casually.

“Not so good, I am afraid. Actually I need your help. Do you have some kind of facility where I can get medicines for generic problems like headache, etc.?”

“Umm… Do you mean something like a dispensary?”

“Yeah!”

“Of course we have one within our palace. Not just for treating generic problems but they give cures for all sorts of diseases and problems. We have some of the best known healers among all our neighbouring states.” Jongin was in the mood to go on forever, so Sehun had to interrupt him and he did it in the most rude way possible.

“Great! Can you gloat about the capabilities of the healers in your kingdom while you show me the way?”

“Sure! Please follow me, prince.” Jongin tried his best to be polite.

“I almost thought you would not even have a dispensary since you don’t have a playroom.” Sehun finished with a smirk. Jongin should have been offended but he did not expect anything better from the other. So, he responded with a small unfelt smile.

The two men walked in silence for a while, Sehun taking in the view of the gardens, farms and this whole part of the palace which he had never visited before. Though he noticed that Jongin was glancing in his direction every once in a while. Probably he had something to say or ask but Sehun was in no mood to indulge the other by becoming the conversation starter.

After a while Jongin must have run out of patience, so he asked unsurely. “Prince Sehun may I ask you something?”

“You are asking me if you can ask me something?” Sehun said snidely. Jongin looked at him blinking blankly for a moment. “Go ahead, ask me what you want Prince Jongin.” Sehun pitied the other for his lack of wit.

“It’s about the man you have been looking for.” That piqued genuine interest from Sehun.

“What about him?”

“Are you sure that man was a servant of the palace?”

“Who else could he be? Are general citizens of the kingdom allowed into the palace library?”

“No, they are not. I didn’t mean to ask if he was a general citizen. I meant what if…” Jongin stopped talking, unsure if it was wise to arouse ideas without knowing what Sehun would do if he learned that the man he has been looking for happens to be a prince of Angoratalamh.

“What if?” Sehun asked for the other to complete his question.

“What if he was someone above the servants? Would you still ‘want’ him?”

“Like the palace guards?”

“Sure.”

“Oh yeah absolutely!” Jongin swallowed hard. “But I am pretty sure he is not a palace guard. He looked way too delicate to be a guard.”

“What if he is above palace guards? Say, he is an important part of our kingdom.”

Sehun furrowed his brows, unable to follow what the other meant. “Important part of the kingdom. Like a member of the royal family?” Jongin’s eyes went wide.

“No...no… y-you have met all of us already. I mean our royal family. How could that man be part of our family.” Jongin chuckled nervously.

“I have not met Prince Jongdae yet. Do you think that man was Prince Jongdae?” The seriousness of Sehun’s features almost scared Jongin for the worse.  
“No, I am sure he was not.” Jongin blurted quickly.

Sehun squinted his eyes and then asked, “How are you sure?”

“Huh?” Jongin thought for a while to come up with a convincing reason. “You said the man looked delicate and Prince Jongdae can seem anything but delicate. He is the best swordsman in our kingdom and a very able warrior in every sense. Minseok hyung is really good but even he never stands a chance against Prince Jongdae.”

“You are not close with Prince Jongdae?”

Jongin looked surprised at other’s perceptiveness. “No, not really. How could you tell that?”

“You don’t refer to him as hyung.” Sehun simply shrugged. “If you did not mean ‘a member of the royal family’ type of important part of the kingdom, whom were you referring?”

“You know…” Sehun raised his brows questioningly. “You know like a minister in the court?”

Sehun considered for a while. “He was too young to be a minister.” Sehun continued, still thinking when it struck him. “He could possibly be a scholar in the court though. He was at the library with a big pile of books too.” Sehun had his eureka moment. Jongin swallowed harder. 

Slowly and unsurely, Jongin asked “Would you ‘want’ him if he was a scholar?”

Sehun thought for a while and then answered firmly once he made up his mind on the matter. “Yes. If he is a scholar at the court of your kingdom, he is some kind of servant at the palace, an intellectual one but nevertheless a servant, and this kingdom is under our rule and that makes him indirectly my servant. So, he should serve me as I please.” 

Before Jongin could somehow handle the mess of a situation he had created, they had reached the entrance of the dispensary. “Anyways thank you Prince Jongin. I am going to ask Prince Minseok to match the court scholars against my description and see if he can track down the man. Also thanks for showing me the way to the dispensary. I think I can take it from here.” Sehun’s thanks was sincere for once but Jongin was internally panicking about a totally different issue.

“I should accompany you inside and introduce you to our head physician and tell him how you are our esteemed guests and hence should be taken care of specially.” Jongin did not want their conversation to end there. He needed a way to continue their conversation.  
“No need. No need at all.” Sehun insisted. He did not want to feel embarrassed talking about his problem in the presence of another prince. However, Jongin had his own reasons, which Sehun was unaware of.

“How will you find your way back to the residential part of the palace? I shall wait for you and we should continue our conversation later.”

“Why should you wait for me? And I will find my way back. I am pretty good with directions.”

“But Prince Sehun…”

“No ifs and buts Prince Jongin. I will see you at the great hall in the evening. Remember King Kim and Kyungsoo hyung have planned a meeting to discuss some policies of the state later in the evening today. I will see you and Prince Minseok there.” Dismissing Jongin with that, Sehun excused himself and proceeded to the dispensary.

And Jongin almost wanted to pull out his own hair because he had an inkling he had made the matters worse by having that conversation with Sehun. Sehun was going to make Minseok look into more people in the palace beyond the servants now and this was definitely not a good thing.

*****************************

Sehun discretely entered the dispensary, not wanting to draw too much attention to himself and yet cutting through all the queues due to his entitlement as a prince and a guest of the palace. His aura must have let known of his title because a physician was instantly by his side to check upon him. It did not escape his eyes how the physicians shared a look when he introduced himself. He was instantly taken to the head physician, who after getting him seated, quietly gave some quick instructions to his subordinates.

Then the man proceeded to sit down beside Sehun to start with his diagnosis. He asked Sehun several questions, feeling up the parts where Sehun was feeling discomfort and when he was convinced that the symptoms did not seem to indicate any severe disorder, he called one of his assistants to get the required medicines prepared. After a considerable amount of time, the assistant was back with the prescribed medicines, which were then handed over to Sehun along with instructions on how to consume them.

Yet again, there was something weird about the glances that the physician and his assistant shared but Sehun did not dwell too much on it. Just as Sehun was about to get up to leave after a quick thanks directed to the physician, the physician asked him “Prince Sehun, would you like some herbal tea? It would be very good for your gut.”  
Sehun found it weird but thinking that the tea was probably medicinal or something, he agreed. He was served the tea, which tasted almost like a normal tea. He quickly finished the contents of his cup and just as he was supposed to leave again, the physician stopped him again.

“Prince Sehun, I think you should have another tea. That tea along with the one you just had will cure your gut very effectively.”

Suddenly, Sehun became suspicious of some funky business because the physician had seemed somewhat nervous and restless all the while Sehun had been there. And his behaviour was getting weirder with every passing moment. Declining the tea politely but strictly, Sehun got up to leave. The physician and his assistant followed him.

Just as he was about to leave the dispensary, a very familiar face came into his view. The man was carrying several different parts of various plants, all of which he happened to drop when he noticed Sehun staring at himself. For a very brief moment the man’s eyes went wide. Just as the man was about to run in the direction from where he had entered, Sehun got a hold of his collar. “Enough of your running away from me, Jing-ri Jang.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! This is what I have posted on asianfanfics so far. I always try to make weekly updates and fail miserably often but I have an update coming this weekend, which I will post to both asianfanfic and ao3. If you would like to checkout this work at asianfanfics here is the link: https://www.asianfanfics.com/story/view/1453633/the-great-kings
> 
> I have a couple other completed fics posted on asianfanfic. If you like this, I would recommend you to check out my other works.
> 
> See you on weekend with a new update (fingers crossed) :D.


	4. Chapter 4

Junmyeon struggled to free himself but Sehun’s hold on him was strong and unrelenting. The people around them were staring. The head physician and his assistant looked at the scene unfolding apologetically. 

They had really tried to keep Sehun from leaving as long as they could. They knew that Junmyeon was soon to return from the herb farm, which stretched across hectares of land on the two sides of the way from the dispensary to the residential quarters of the palace. 

And even though there was a minuscule probability of the royal guest being aware of Junmyeon’s existence and title, they did whatever they could to keep the royal guest from meeting the prince. And it would have worked fine if only Junmyeon would have returned sooner and hid himself or they could have kept Sehun away a little longer.

It was shocking to the two. Not only that the royal guest had recognized the prince, as forget outsiders there were very few within the palace who knew about the said prince, but also the way he was treating the prince. Head physician made up his mind to interrupt the guest’s actions and help the poor prince struggling in his hold to get away, at least that’s what seemed like Junmyeon was trying to do.

The head physician started, “Prince Sehun, I am sorry but what are you trying to do? You could hurt the Pr...” However, he was interrupted by Junmyeon. “No-no-no, he does not know.”

“What don’t I know?” Sehun asked inquisitively. Junmyeon immediately stopped moving.

“Let go of my collar and I will tell you.” Sehun squinted his eyes, trying to gauge if the man was fooling him. “Seriously, I will tell you and I won’t run away.” Junmyeon tried to convince the other of his sincerity, with his words and by displaying his best puppy eyes.

Sehun slowly let go of the other’s collar, still on full alert if the other tried to take off. And Junmyeon did not disappoint because he tried to flee as soon as his collar was released. Sehun was quick to grab the short man by his neck and put him back in place, more harshly this time. 

“You sneaky little thing.”

“Who do you think you are calling little?” Sehun’s face distorted in reaction to the words coming from someone he thought was a mere servant. And Junmyeon immediately tried to cover up the slip of his sassiness. “I mean I am not little and also not sneaky.” Junmyeon spoke whatever came to his mind. “I was just testing your response time and I have to say I am impressed. I won’t test you again, so can you let go of my neck? Please!”

“You think I am stupid!” Sehun could not believe the other’s ludicrous words.

“Noooo! Never! How dare I think of great Prince Sehun as stupid.”

“Why do I feel you are mocking me?”

“How would I know why you are feeling the way you are feeling? Why don’t you ask yourself? And take your time, I will stick around. You don’t have to hold me down.” Junmyeon was really testing Sehun’s patience now.

“Enough! Do you even know who I am? I don’t care what you are hiding from me. I will find it out eventually. But for now you are coming with me.” Saying that much, Sehun started dragging Junmyeon out of the dispensary by his neck.

Once Junmyeon was out of the dispensary, only the head physician and his assistant following the two princes, Junmyeon started sweet talking again. “I am willingly following you. You don’t have to hurt me with your crushing hold around my neck.” Sehun released some pressure from his hold but did or said no more. Junmyeon knew Sehun was not going to get fooled again and that he needed to try some other tactic.

That’s when he crashed to the ground on his butt. Sehun was taken aback for a split second before letting out an exasperated sigh.

“Seriously! Can’t you just make it easy for both of us?”

“No! If you want to take me somewhere, you will have to lug me there,” came Junmyeon’s instant retort followed by the action of folding his arms across his chest. It was evident he was going to stick to his words and Sehun let out another exasperated sigh.

“Fine! Don’t complain later when you get bruises all over your butt from the dragging.”

“Fine, I won’t.” Hearing all the sass in the supposed servant’s words, Sehun was determined to break the other’s resolute demeanor. So he got hold of the shorter’s shins and started dragging the other’s body across the hard and bumpy ground. Junmyeon was taken aback and had to try really hard to keep his back off the ground.

After being dragged for a while, Junmyeon’s expressions reflected that he was experiencing some pain. Sehun was worried but tried to show that he did not care and kept on going until Junmyeon let out a groan so loud that Sehun could no longer continue.

“I am asking you one last time. Do you really not want to accompany me on your own two feet?”

Junmyeon considered for a moment and then with certainty and determination glowing in his eyes, he shook his head. But Sehun was done with other’s stubbornness. So, he forced the man to his feet and before the other could react, tossed him over his shoulders and started walking to his intended destination. 

Junmyeon did not make it easy to be carried around even though he weighed as light as a feather. He kicked his hands and legs around, screaming to be put down. However, Sehun tried his best to pay no heed to the loudly shouting man on his shoulder, getting carried like a sack.

Sehun did not even notice the two workers from the dispensary still following him. The men were trying to think of the best way to get their prince out of the vices of the cruel royal guest. It was only when Sehun was at the entrance of the residential quarter of the palace, did the two stop and thought it wise to not get directly involved in the matter, fearing their presence could raise several questions and get Junmyeon into a bigger trouble. The head physician ordered his assistant, “Let’s go back to the dispensary and pray Prince Jongdae is already back there.”

*********************************  
Kyungsoo was the first to notice his brother enter the Great Hall. All three: Kyungsoo, Minseok and Jongin were early for their meeting in the Great Hall and were waiting for King Kim and Sehun to join them. All of them wanted to discuss new strategies for safeguarding the frontier of Angoratalamh from the recently growing number of invasions and lootings. 

They were not expecting to be joined by any other person in the least. So, when Sehun entered with a man huddled over his shoulder, and the way that man was remonstrating being there, Kyungsoo could smell trouble even before Minseok and Jongin could turn around and see the approaching figures.

“Put me down, you hulky monster. I am not a sack of grain to be tossed around.” The very familiar voice caught Minseok and Jongin’s attention. 

Before Minseok could think, he spluttered “Junmyeon!”. Loudly enough for others in the room to hear. A cold sweat ran down Jongin’s spine on seeing the royal guest carrying his ‘supposed-to-be-secret’ brother. He had had an intuition for some time but that did not take away the shock of that really coming true. 

It did not take long for realization to hit Minseok that Sehun’s description of the man he was looking for fit perfectly with his own brother. ‘Situation could not get any worse’, Minseok thought to himself.

Sehun finally brought Junmyeon back to his own feet and triumphantly told Junmyeon. “So that’s what you were hiding. Your name is Junmyeon. I knew it, the name Jing-ri Jang sounded funny even the first time.” 

Then Sehun turned to Minseok to rub it in how he knew the other was lying all along. “You recognized the moment I described ‘Jing-ri Jang’ to you, didn’t you. That palace wide search of yours was just a pretense to deceive us. I am sure you were the one hiding him all along. Was the King of Angoratalamh aware of your deeds? Or better was he the one strategizing them all along?” 

“Prince Sehun! On what grounds are you casting such accusations on me, the King of Angoratalamh and my son, Prince Minseok?” King Kim’s angry voice boomed in the Great Hall. The King had entered the Great Hall not long before and had heard only the last part of what Sehun had said. As soon as he approached the group of people, he noticed Junmyeon standing among them. 

Minseok saw King’s reaction to Junmyeon’s presence and he knew in that moment that the situation had gotten worse. King Kim had turned red in anger and his frown was frightening. 

Without a care about the presence of any of the guests from Capponterre, King Kim went close to Junmyeon. And before anyone could predict what was to happen, a hard smack landed on one side of Junmyeon’s face. 

“Woah, what was that for?,” words left Sehun’s mouth before the thought of doing it reached his brain. 

“You are nothing but trouble. Why do you even live?” The King told Junmyeon in a sombre tone. Junmyeon bowed his head to hide the tears filling his eyes. This was not the first time he was physically hit by the King and far from the first time he was told how unwanted his existence was but it still managed to wrench his heart. 

When he had heard these things as a kid, he had tried harder to become someone his father could be proud of and his mother could openly express her love for. But no matter how hard he tried, he always fell short. And as he grew up he had accepted that he could never be someone his father would approve of, so he strived only for self-validation. Yet, everytime his father’s words managed to hurt his feelings and made him re-evaluate his self-worth.

As Junmyeon’s eyes were trained to the floor, he missed the shock and discomfort appearing on Sehun’s features. Kyungsoo was shocked too but he had better control over his features. 

King Kim turned his head in the direction of his personal security guard, who was also the head of all the palace guards, and asked authoritatively, “How was he even allowed to step out of his chambers despite my strict orders? Where are his guards and servants? Why are they even employed when they don’t do their job? Or is it that they don’t want to do their job and are intentionally working against me?”

That got Junmyeon to speak up, even before the head security guard could respond. “Your highness, I sneaked out during the change of shifts for the servants. They are not slacking or unwilling to do their jobs. I just happened to learn their schedules and find a gap to escape out of my chamber. It is not their fault. I am sure they have been diligently searching for me as soon as they realized that I was missing from my chamber.”

“I should not have been lenient with you and should have sentenced you to prison. But it is not too late yet. Putting you behind bars is the only way to deal with you.” 

Having said what he said, the King looked at the guards, expecting them to carry out his orders. The guards did not move, delaying the act as much as they could by waiting for their head’s command. But that command did not come from the man, at least not for a long while. The head guard stayed rooted to his position, unwilling to do what he was asked by the King, for what seemed like eternity. But there was only so much he could delay the unfateful.

With guilt painting his face, he moved towards Junmyeon to do the misdeed himself. He was not going to let any of the guards forcefully take a prince to the place where criminals and traitors of the state were kept. The head guard moved slowly, repeatedly looking around and hoping for some miracle to occur that would prevent him from what was a wrong-doing in his conscience.

To his relief, the miracle came about in the form of Jongdae just as he had reached close to Junmyeon. “Back off right now.” Jongdae came in shouting the words. He was panting hard and it was evident that he had been running to reach there. Junmyeon was relieved and scared at the same time to see his younger brother.

“What the hell are you doing?” Jongdae made no effort with the formalities when he addressed the King. The King and other people in the hall were taken aback. “Dae!” He was immediately reprimanded by Junmyeon.  
The King replied, pretending like Jongdae had not just acted rudely towards him. “I have been too kind to him and he has taken enough advantage of my kindness. I am just rectifying the situation by giving him the punishment he deserves.”

“Of course! Not putting your son behind a figurative prison but just prisoning his entire existence is the definition of kindness. Isn’t it, your highness. And just don’t get me started on what he deserves as a prince and as the son of your highness, and all that your highness has done for and to him.”

“Prince? Son?,” Sehun was doing really bad at keeping his shock and his curiosities out of his mouth. That got the King and everybody’s attention. And for the first time in a while the King realized that the events should not have unfolded where they did, in front of two princes of Caponterre. Jongdae was quick to see the horror of realization pass through his father’s face and he knew how to put it to use.

“Don’t force me to go rogue, your highness. You know I can.” The warning in Jongdae’s tone and words was clear as crystal. And it did not go unnoticed by the King, whose rage reached a new level for that evening.

“Are you threatening the king?”

“I thought I was obvious in that regard.” Junmyeon’s eyes went wide on hearing Jongdae’s response. His brother was pushing the boundaries far too thin and he could not let it happen.

“Dae enough! Just stop right there.” Junmyeon turned to the king and begged. “He does not mean it, your highness. My negligence in obeying your orders is no one’s fault but mine. And I will take sole responsibility for it and deal with it’s consequences. Please don’t punish Prince Jongdae or any of the servants in this regard.”

“Hyung!” Jongdae felt dejected to see his brother put himself on the line to dissolve the situation. However, Junmyeon’s words possibly did help to dissolve the situation because the King altered his earlier orders. No one could be sure if he altered them because of what Junmyeon said or fearing what Jongdae could do or just to keep his face in front of their royal guests but he nevertheless did.

The King spoke in a calm and collected but unrelenting tone. “No food and no drinks, not even water, should be served to Prince Junmyeon until my further orders. Whoever disobeys my orders this time will be deemed as against the King and this state and will be suitably punished.” Saying that the King moved to leave the Great Hall before anyone could challenge his orders and ask for clarifications. 

As soon as the King disappeared from sight, Sehun asked Junmyeon, unable to keep his spirit of inquiry at bay. “You are a prince?”

Before Junmyeon or anyone else could respond, Jongdae spoke, not willing to tone down his threatening demeanor. “Yes, he is a prince and off the limits for you.” Jongdae went further to push Sehun away from Junmyeon with all his strength and Sehun landed up on the floor. “You dare come near him or touch him or even as much as look at him and I swear to god I will beat you to your death.” 

Sehun did not look happy with the treatment he just received but he was too shocked to react. But the same could not be said about Kyungsoo who was unwilling to let pass such discourtesy. “How dare you?” He withdrew his sword from its sheath and charged towards Jongdae. However, Jongdae was quick to shield himself by holding the blade of the sword with his right hand. 

All of this happened so quickly that none of the other four princes could even recover their senses and sensibilities for a while. However, none of Kyungsoo or Jongdae were willing to back down. So, others had to jump in. Junmyeon was the first to react and tried to get them away from each other. When even the four other princes together could not tear Kyungsoo and Jongdae apart, Junmyeon had to resort to pleading when a thick stream of Jongdae’s blood started trickling down from the blade of the sword to the floor.

“Dae, please it’s bleeding badly. Let it go.” When Jongdae did not so much as blink and kept intently staring at Kyungsoo, Junmyeon had to try with the other man. “Please! I am begging you.” Kyungsoo flinched at the request but after a moment of consideration did not retract his sword. Not until Sehun asked him to do the same. 

“Hyung! Let it go. We are not here to fight.” After being cryptically reminded of the intentions behind their visit to the state of Angoratalamh by his younger brother, Kyungsoo tried to retract his sword but to no avail. Because Jongdae would not let go of his hold on the blade of the sword. 

When Jongdae felt the other’s hold on the sword weakening, he snatched the sword with the quick movement of his arm, leaving Kyungsoo shocked and angry. Junmyeon was quick to jump in between the two men and hold Jongdae before he could do anything. “Dae we need to treat your wound before you lose any more blood or the wound gets septic.” Saying that Junmyeon started dragging Jongdae backward with all his strength.

Jongdae was not done with his warning though and threw the sword in his hand near Sehun’s feet aggressively. “Mark my words.” Jongdae spit out the words before Junmyeon managed to get him out of the Great Hall and out of everyone’s sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi everyone! I hope you enjoyed the update, which for once I managed to finish in time :D. I would really appreciate hearing if you are finding this fic interesting so far. I am kind of feeling in the dark with the lack of reaction to the updates. Please let me know if something feels wrong or impossible or just about anything. I will try to come with the next update around the time of next weekend. Hope to see you soon. Until then have a good time :-).


	5. Chapter 5

“That fucking king!”

“Dae language. He is our father besides also the King.”

“You know what, I don’t want one like him. You can keep him all to yourself.” Jongdae was fuming and did not give a damn about the servants eavesdropping on their conversation while continuing talking. “That man is eating to his heart’s content while you are the one starving for over 48 hours now. I hope he chokes on his next bite. And if we are lucky he dies with that bite stuck in his windpipe.” Jongdae meant every word of what he said.

Junmyeon glared hard at Jongdae. When he saw Jongdae not flinching at all from his glare, he took the fork from Jongdae with a bite of food that the younger had been trying to feed him. Before Jongdae could realize what happened, fork’s contents were fed into his mouth. It was too late for Jongdae to protest, so he swallowed the food unwillingly.

“You become grumpy when you don’t eat. How long have you been starving yourself?”

“Why would I starve myself?” Jongdae pouted a little, knowing well that Junmyeon caught him in his lie.

“Dae, I want you to finish all the food on this plate before I hear another word from you.” Junmyeon said, pointing at the plate of food Jongdae had got for him, or more accurately sneaked into his chamber. “Once you finish eating, I need to change the bandages on your wound too.”

“Well! Sorry, I am not eating until you eat something.”

“I can’t and you know that. I don’t want to get anyone in trouble after what happened two days ago, especially not you.”

“I don’t care if making sure you are not denied a basic human necessity gets me into trouble.”

“But I do care. You’ve already got yourself into a lot of people’s bad books after that incident for me. So, not any more. And I am sure it is just a matter of at most another day or two before father retracts his orders.”

“What if you fall sick before that happens?” Jongdae let out an exasperated sigh. “How can you still address him as father after all that he has done to you?” Jongdae asked with tenderness and a rare flash of vulnerability.

“He is not a bad person. It’s the circumstances and everyone has a different way of dealing with their circumstances.”

“What do you mean he is not a bad person? He has always been unreasonable and unfair to you while dealing with his own circumstances. Why do you have to be so understanding? Why can’t you just blame him and hate him and all the other people around you for ruining your life.”

“Because bitterness towards my own people will get me nowhere. It will make me a person living every second of his life wallowing in self-pity. And I want to do something more meaningful with my life than feeling victimized. Just like you channelized all your anger against father to make yourself the strongest warrior in the entire state.”

“But that does not mean I am not angry anymore.”

Junmyeon shrugged. “Maybe I am happy where I am right now and hopeful that it will get better.”

“Hyung, these people won’t turn over a new leaf. They are all selfish bastards and will remain one. You are hoping too much.”

Junmyeon took Jongdae’s hands in his own and replied with a sincere smile. “I got you for a brother and it taught me to stay optimistic. It has been hard to give up on hope ever since!” 

***************************

Jongdae exited Junmyeon’s chamber after failing to get the other to eat anything. As he turned around the corner towards his own chamber, he saw Sehun striding towards Junmyeon’s chamber. Jongdae’ first instinct was to look around for something that could be used to hurt the other. 

He had warned Sehun last time to steer clear of Junmyeon and that was more than the courtesy he needed to show someone causing troubles to his brother. So, he was ready to jump to swords. Too bad, he did not have his own sword on him at the moment.

Sehun saw Jongdae piercing daggers through his eyes but ignored the prince’s presence altogether, continuing to walk around Jongdae. However, Jongdae was not going to let him have his way and blocked his path. Sehun tried to dodge the body blocking him a few times but the other was quick on his feet. The two were at it for a couple of minutes before Jongdae’ patience wore thin.

“Where the hell do you think you are going?”

Sehun let out a sound of annoyance before answering the obvious both knew. “To meet Prince Junmyeon.” 

“Was my last time’s warning to stay away from Junmyeon hyung not clear to you?”

“I am not sure if you really don’t know but let me make it clear to you for your own benefit. I am one of the best swordsmen in Caponterre. I have been on battlefields since I was 15. Fights and violence are not new to my sight.

You think you can intimidate from a little display of aggression? I was quiet that day not because I am scared of you but because I felt terrible after what happened to Prince Junmyeon. I could retaliate but chose not to. So don’t take my silence for my weakness.” 

Jongdae snorted. “You felt terrible about what you got Junmyeon hyung into and yet here you are. About to do god knows what to him.” Sehun was about to clarify his intentions behind the visit to the said prince but Jongdae continued without allowing him to speak. “But get this into your pea-sized brain. You are not even going to lay your eyes on him until I am on my deathbed.”

“I am here only to apologize to him. Although what happened two days ago was not entirely my fault…” Sehun was rudely interrupted.

“Not entirely your fault!” Jongdae exclaimed beyond belief. “Junmyeon hyung has been forced to sneak around in his own palace for the last several days because some weird guy with eerie intentions keeps following him around. He was so close to being thrown into a prison cell. He has been restricted to his own chamber for real now. And he has not eaten anything in at least the last 48 hours. Then how is all of this not your fault?”

Sehun wanted to defend himself from the accusations but was caught off guard from the information that Junmyeon had not eaten anything for over 2 days. “What do you mean he has not eaten?”

“Do you have short memory loss or something? Don’t you remember the king’s punishment for Hyung? No food, no water for hyung until his further orders.”

“But that was 2 days ago! King Kim has still not retracted those orders?” Sehun frowned. Jongdae shook his head, his anger fading a little and replaced by the feelings of helplessness.

Sehun did not say anything for a while, leaving Jongdae to his own thoughts, while himself pondering if it was alright to share the idea that came to his mind. “What if someone covertly gets some food to him? I mean it should be fine as far as King Kim does not learn about it, right.” 

That broke Jongdae from his thoughts. “Mr. Genius! As if I could not think of that.” Jongdae ridiculed the other.

Sehun rolled his eyes. “Then what is the problem?”

“Hyung won’t eat it because he does not want me to get in trouble.”

“You don’t have to do it. I can do it. I can’t possibly get into trouble with my status as a prince of Caponterre.”

“Also the servants won’t leave him alone in his chamber following their superior’s commands. None of the servants said they would inform the king but hyung eating while they are there makes those servants allies in what has been declared as the punishable offense by the King. I don’t care about myself or those servants but hyung is not me.”

“How about we talk to King Kim and convince him to retract his orders, like right now?”

“Good luck with that!” 

Sehun let out a sigh. “I don’t understand what Prince Junmyeon could have done that is so grave for King Kim to give him such a ruthless punishment.” Kyungsoo and Sehun had tried to learn more about the situation of the royal family of Angoratalamh from Minseok and Jongin after Junmyeon and Jongdae had left that day in the Great Hall. 

However, they only got silences for a response and a request to keep the events from their elders for some time, until King Kim himself explained the complicated situation. Kyungsoo and Sehun reluctantly agreed to concede to those requests, already being taken aback by the events that had unfolded before their eyes.

“Trust me I am trying to understand for years now. And none of it makes any sense to me.” Jongdae told Sehun sincerely. Sehun believed Jongdae and he did not know why but the fact that Junmyeon had not done anything bad to be treated like he was, took off some heaviness in his gut but also filled his heart with pity for the mistreated man.

Few minutes of silence followed when neither of the men knew what to do next in their interaction and about the bigger problem. Then another idea struck Sehun. It was not a foolproof plan and in fact could backfire badly, leading the situation to spiral down further, but he felt it was worth trying.

With determination and certainty, Sehun informed Jongdae “I think I know what I am going to do about it. If it worked I will see you and Prince Junmyeon at dinner tonight or in the worst case your family will get banished from Angoratalamh.” Saying that, Sehun turned around with a new destination in mind.

Jongdae squinted his eyes at the back of the now retracing figure, then shrugged in indifference and announced. “I am good with either. Good luck!”

**************************************

When Sehun knocked at his door repeatedly without a break, Kyungsoo did not expect to be dragged out of his chamber immediately without an explanation as to why and where they were headed so urgently.

“Sehun! Can you tell me what is going on? Where are you taking me?”

“No time for explanations hyung.” The urgency in Sehun’s voice was enough to convince Kyungsoo that it must be something important and his younger brother was just not messing around with him.

“Ohh okay but can you at least walk slower. It is hard to keep up with your long strides.”

“There is no time to walk hyung. We should ideally be running.” Kyungsoo did not complain again but he was running short of breath, reminding him that he had not been exercising enough ever since they had come to Angoratalamh. Moreover, he had no time to see his surroundings to guess where they were headed.

To Kyungsoo’s relief, Sehun finally came to a stall and let go of Kyungsoo’s arm but at an unexpected spot. They were standing outside their grandfather’s chamber. It was not normal for the princes and princess of Caponterre to visit any of their elder’s chambers without being summoned or without fixing an appointment via servants beforehand.

Before Kyungsoo could make any inquiries about the purpose of their sudden visit, Sehun spoke “Hyung! Just follow my cue,” and barged into King-father Oh’s chamber after a single courtesy knock. Kyungsoo followed the action but hesitantly. It was no surprise that their grandfather was not at all pleased to see his grandsons invading his chamber without being explicitly allowed to do so.

“Seems like Angoratalamh’s air is adversely affecting your two’s manners.” It was a relatively polite reprimand coming from the old man. Kyungsoo wanted to smack his brother on the head at that moment.

“Apology, your highness. But it was really urgent. We just learned that Angoratalamh has a fourth prince.” Sehun defended their negligence in following proper royal conduct without missing a beat.

“What?” King-father Oh’s expression of shock was comical to Sehun and would have been to Kyungsoo as well if he had not been so shocked himself about what Sehun had just revealed. They had given their word of mouth to Minseok that they were going to keep the truth under wraps. Even though he had agreed for selfish reasons and not really to help the royals of Angoratalamh. 

King-father Oh was a short-tempered and impulsive man. He was not one to think twice before calling for battles. And they were not visiting Angoratalamh to start another war. Thus, it was even more shocking to him that Sehun would reveal something that could cause an upheaval in the already strained relationship between the two kingdoms.

“Your highness! King Kim has been hiding a prince from us and possibly from even the citizens of their state.” Sehun repeated, briefly glancing at Kyungsoo for affirmation to his statement.

King-father Oh took a deep breath. Sehun and Kyungsoo could feel the anger filling up their grandfather along with every ounce of air. Kyungsoo managed to glare at Sehun for a few moments before the eldest spoke up.

“So another illegitimate child? Must be! What other reason to hide a prince? King Kim must have hid him due our strong rebuking after his first illegitimate child.” The eldest started coming up with his own theories and conclusions, even before asking for everything the two princes knew. “I knew coming here was a bad idea. I don’t want our family to establish any kind of close relations with this unsophisticated and uncultured royal family of Angoratalamh. When the king himself is of such loose character, there is no doubt to the lack of morals in the princes.”

The king-father’s line of thought was spiralling exactly in the direction that Sehun did not want it to. So, he tried to salvage the situation. “Your highness! We believe the hidden prince is a legitimate son of the royal family, born to the King and Queen of Angoratalamh. Because he is certainly older than Prince Jongdae. 

We have not managed to learn the reason why he was kept out of the public eye but I don’t think we should reach such strong conclusions about the royal family just as of yet. Don’t you agree, Prince Kyungsoo?” 

The elders in the royal family of Caponterre were strongly against the use of informal honorifics like hyung and oppa even within the family. Thus, the younger prince and princess always made sure to use proper formalities in the presence of their elders. ‘Hyung’ and ‘Oppa’ honorifics were used only when the three were talking within themselves. 

Kyungsoo kept up with his glaring for a little longer before coming in support of his younger brother’s argument half-heartedly. “Your highness, I agree with Prince Sehun.” Kyungsoo was suspicious of Sehun’s motives but so far he had not said anything arguable.

When Sehun noticed their King-father still angry but in a thoughtfully agreeable state, he knew he had found the window he wanted. He almost patted himself on the back for his decision to bring Kyungsoo along as that seems to have worked. King-father Oh had always been trusting of Kyungsoo and his decision-making. Had it not been for Kyungsoo’s convincing, the eldest Oh would have never stepped foot in the palace of Angoratalamh for reasons other than throwing off their royal family from power. 

“Prince Kyungsoo also believes that it would be in the best interest of everyone that your highness confronts King Kim about this in a non-threatening manner.” Prince Sehun was surprisingly making a whole lot of sense so far but Kyungsoo did not like being quoted on something he had never said. So, he could not stop glaring at Sehun for doing god knows what. “Any miscommunication could go a long way in ruining the future relations of the two states.”

“Really Prince Kyungsoo! How do you propose we express our displeasure of being kept in the dark about the fourth prince in a non-threatening manner.” 

Well, Kyungsoo had no suggestion because that’s not how he was planning for things to unfold. He was expecting King Kim to come out clean to their grandfather with a reasonable explanation instead of them snitching on the Kim royals’ dirty laundry. But Sehun should have some suggestion if he had come this far. So Kyungsoo was looking at Sehun expectantly.

Sehun did not disappoint. “Prince Kyungsoo suggested something earlier but seems to be hesitating now. So, Prince Kyungsoo was thinking that we should invite all the Kims, including the two princes we have not been formally introduced to yet, to a dinner with our family.

Our invitation to a peaceful dinner extended to every member of the Kim family would indicate that we are aware of their secret and expect an explanation while at the same time show that we want to resolve it peacefully.”

Kyungsoo would have again preferred not to have his name stamp on an idea he did not even approve of, forget not generated, but he had to admit that the idea was not bad at all. And their King-father seemed to agree with his opinion.

That’s how Sehun could volunteer to take the message about Kims and Ohs having dinner together that night to King Kim. Also Sehun made sure to stress on his own accord how the presence of the entire, absolutely the entire royal family of Angoratalamh was expected without a fail. 

Jongdae could not help but feel a lot relieved and a little admiration for the weird guest prince when King Kim forwarded the dinner invitation to Junmyeon and Jongdae. Agreed, it was not what Jongdae had expected Sehun to pull off and undoubtedly the dinner was going to be very awkward. But Jongdae could deal with it if it meant that Junmyeon could finally ingest food after days, literally.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTES; HI everyone! Another timely update, yay :D !!! It was very motivating to see lovely comments after the last update and I would love to hear again how did you find this update. It's fine even if you write something along the lines 'So, when are Sehun and Junmyeon going to meet and interact like normal people because the fic has been going on for forever' because that's literally how I am feeling right now. But I promise we will get to it soon, very soon! So please hang in there. We can get through the Seho drought in this fic and IRL together, fighting!!!
> 
> Damn I have been missing Junmyeon a little extra these days. It sounds stupid even to myself because I have not been able to visit my hometown for a while due to the corona situation, have not got to meet any friend or family in a while and the person I am missing is someone I have never met in real life. But heart feels what it feels. I can't help it, right? At least we are getting a Jongdae OST soon :-).
> 
> This will be all until the next update(week hopefully). Have fun in whatever part of your Sunday is left ;P.  
> (Oh btw if you are new to my ramblings, these are normal I assure you.)


	6. Chapter 6

It had been a while since Junmyeon was in his princely attire. He would almost always wear simple clothes to save himself from standing out among the simpletons but tonight was different. For the first time in his life, he was going to be formally introduced as the prince of the state and it made him both nervous and excited, but more nervous than excited.

In his nervousness he got dressed a little too early for dinner and made sure Jongdae was ready too to accompany him to the palace’s dining room ahead of time. Jongdae did not think it wise to be early to the dinner but he could not refuse a man that had been starving for a couple of days. 

Though Jongdae did not expect Junmyeon to find a place for them to hide in the back of the coat room, which was situated in an enclosed corner of the massive dining room. The entrance to the coat room was right next to the entrance of the dining room. Royalty and their guests almost never entered the coat room, the room having designated servants who would take the coats to and bring them from the room for the diners. 

So, it was no surprise that the servants working there gave them looks, especially Jongdae, but Junmyeon quietly gestured to them to remain silent about their presence.

When Jongdae stared at him questioningly, the man shrugged and said in a low voice, “Let’s wait here until King-father Oh arrives. Dinner won’t start until then and I do not want us to meet any people, especially our father and Prince Sehun, before the dinner starts.”

Jongdae whispered back, “We could have just waited in our chambers.”

“We could not afford to be late, that would have been rude. And we would not know when everyone’s here from our chambers. It’s best to be early and hide here, that would prevent any chance encounters too.” Junmyeon reasoned and even though Jongdae wanted to counter those reasons, he refrained because he knew the other was anxious about the dinner and overthinking unnecessarily.

Jongin’s coat was the first to arrive in the coat room and soon outer clothing of a couple more members of the two families followed. Junmyeon was super attentive, trying really hard to listen into the conversations going on between the people who had already arrived in the dining room, while Jongdae could not be any more bored, and was literally yawning. 

It wasn’t until Minseok’s jacket came in that Jongdae’s eyes perked up in mischief. Junmyeon did not miss the look on Jongdae’s face and the smirk that followed when the younger man saw Junmyeon’s eyes on himself. Junmyeon knew it meant trouble. Jongdae quietly went up to one of the servants working there.

“Excuse me!”

The servant, a young girl in her early twenties, bowed in response to being talked to by a prince. Jongdae continued knowing he had the attention of the girl. “Can you get me some strawberry jam?” 

Junmyeon, who was listening into their exchange, had his eyes go wide. The girl was confused as well by the unwonted request. So Jongdae explained, “I am really hungry and while we are hanging out here, I would like to eat something.” The girl did not look super convinced but nevertheless asked politely, “Prince, would you like some bread with it?”

“Sure, that sounds wonderful.” Jongdae sounded way too enthusiastic just for some bread and jam. And Junmyeon knew he was upto some prank.

“Are you going to do what I am thinking you are going to do with the jam?” Junmyeon asked, squinting his eyes in suspicion.

“Do I know what you think that I am thinking of doing with the jam? Nope, don’t even have a clue.” Jongdae turned the question around playfully.

Junmyeon rolled his eyes before putting his guess into words, “Are you going to put jam in Minseok hyung’s jacket?”

“Bingo! That’s exactly what I am going to do. It will be so much fun to watch him put on this jacket and find himself covered in sticky pink jam.”

Junmyeon shook his head in disapproval. “Why do you keep looking for chances to cause him trouble?”  
“Why won’t you? I just hate him and you should too. He had reminded us throughout our childhoods how much he hates us and I am just returning the favor.”

“But that was in our childhood. We were all children. He does not hate us anymore. He knows better that blaming us for the falling out between the king and the queen is unreasonable.” Jongdae shrugged nonchalantly. Junmyeon neither argued any further nor tried to stop Jongdae. He hoped doing such childish things would one day dissolve Jongdae’s feelings of hatred and hurt infested during his childhood.

Junmyeon focused his attention back to the happenings in the dining area. He tried not to get his attention diverted even after the girl came back with jam and some pieces of bread on a food tray. However, that was hard. Junmyeon could not help but to see what Jongdae was doing through his peripheral vision.

Jongdae dismissed the girl and was about to smear the jam on all over the inner side of the jacket, when Junmyeon interrupted him by loudly clearing his throat.

“Won’t that be obviously visible to anyone even at first glance?” Junmyeon whispered, trying not to sound like he was interested in helping Jongdae with his prank.

“Huh?” Jongdae looked confusedly at Junmyeon. Junmyeon rubbed his arms and spoke again “Why would hyung wear it if he can see jam all over it?” 

Jongdae suddenly realized what his brother was saying. The older was right about smearing the jam on only the inner side of the sleeves of the jacket. Jongdae gave a victory smirk on finally being able to make Junmyeon an accomplice in his prank. “You know you are so much more fun when you are less kind.” 

Junmyeon could not hold his giggle which was accompanied by Jongdae’s laugh after the latter used up all the jam at his disposal. And while they were at it, they noticed King-father Oh’s coat finally arriving in the room. While walking out to the dining room, Jongdae handed over the tray with an empty jam dish and untouched bread to the girl, who looked at it with uncertainty.

**********************************

There was a long dining table in the middle of the dining room, with about ten chairs on each of the two of its sides and a single distinct looking chair at its head. King-father Oh was seated at the head of the table with other members of the Oh family seated on one side of the table and the Kim family seated across them. The seats next to the head of the table were occupied by the kings of the two kingdoms, their respective queens next to them followed by the princes and princess in the order of their claim to the throne. 

King-father Oh ‘s expression clearly displayed his displeasure on the seating arrangement of the Kim family. Junmyeon was sitting on the end, even though Jongdae had tried to make him sit next to Jongin. But Junmyeon claimed his seat adamantly, a chair away from Jongin’s.

Jongdae instantly became aware of the curious and questioning stares the two of them were getting from all the members of the Oh family after they were done with their greetings. However, Junmyeon was too busy squirming under the persistent gaze of only one of them, Sehun, to notice others’.

Sehun was not staring at Junmyeon to cause him discomfort intentionally, but he was just awestruck by the other. In the back of his mind he could not help but reprimand himself for thinking of Junmyeon as anything but a prince during their earlier meetings. Because right in that moment, dressed in his royal attire, Junmyeon looked a million bucks and more. But that was not it. The attire added to his beauty in heavenly ways and it became impossible for Sehun to take his eyes off of Junmyeon.

King-father Oh cleared his throat as an act to catch everyone’s attention before expressing what was probably running through most of his family member’s mind.

“In our palace, the princes sit as they are in line for the throne. Is it done differently in Angoratalamh?” The disguised dig at his step-brother caught Junmyeon’s attention away from the staring Sehun. He looked at Jongdae and saw the man’s features hardening. Everybody in the room seemed at the edge in anticipation of what was to come next.

King Kim answered calmly, “We do it similarly in Angoratalamh but since Prince Junmyeon and Prince Jongdae have not been in line to the throne, they can sit however they like.” 

“Still, how they are seated makes Prince Jongdae unofficially the third in line to the throne of Angoratalamh. And I had thought that Prince Junmyeon was from full royal bloodline besides being older than Prince Jongdae.”

“You are right in your judgement, your highness. Prince Junmyeon is indeed my son with King Kim.” Queen Kim did not waste a breath in assuring the status of her son.

“Then why is he not third in line to the throne? Why has he been replaced by someone with a commoner mother?” King-father Oh’s questions and deprecating tone towards his brother were making Junmyeon feel suffocated. Kyungsoo tensed up as well. This conversation came out of nowhere while Kyungsoo kept fearing things would go down during the dinner when Junmyeon’s hidden prince status would be brought up.

“Your highness! Apologies for interrupting in between but Prince Jongdae deserves this spot and may I say, even better.” Junmyeon continued when the elder did not cut in. “I have no capabilities to rule and protect an entire kingdom. Truth be told I can’t even defend myself if the need arises. While Prince Jongdae, he has everything that subjects desire in a ruler.

I might sound conceited, but when I look at Prince Jongdae I see a reflection of your highness in him. He is sensible, logical and fair. He is not afraid to speak his mind. He is a capable warrior, most capable one in Angoratalamh. 

Truth be told it is no surprise because we become the people we idealize. And Prince Jongdae has idealized you all his life.”

Jongdae, who had been looking at his usually kindly dispositioned brother talking back to King-father Oh in amaze, blurted out inadvertently after hearing the last sentence. “I have?” He got a kick under the table and he barely managed to stop himself from wincing loudly.

“Why would a prince from Angoratalamh idealize me?” King-father Oh asked smugly.

“I have always asked him the same and he would always tell me ‘Who would not idealize a man who has made Caponterre what it is today?’” Junmyeon lied confidently. “I think it was reading your biography that made him your admirer. Wasn’t it Prince Jongdae?”

Jongdae was looking at him with furrowed eyebrows and did not give a nod until Junmyeon nudged him for a response. King-father Oh looked almost convinced even though Jongdae did not put in any effort to sound truthful.

“My biography? You read it Prince Jongdae? A copy of the manuscript was sent to all the states under the rule of Caponterre, for adding it to the archives but I never knew someone actually read it.”

“Read it! He memorized it from end to end.” Junmyeon answered on behalf of Jongdae.

“May I ask you, which of my life incidents from the biography made you my admirer?” King-father Oh asked enthusiastically.  
“Huh?” Jongdae sounded lost obviously. “There were too many to single one out.” Jongdae replied to the best of his wits in the moment.

“I think it was the horse incident. You have recounted that incident to me probably a hundred times.” Junmyeon supplied after pretending to give the question a thought.

King-father Oh let out a boisterous laugh, sounding extremely satisfied. “The horse incident is one of those which I am most proud of.” He added after a thoughtful pause. “Prince Jongdae, you should join me for tea sometime and I will recount some more incidents that are not there in my biography.”

Jongdae gave Junmyeon a look before politely replying without meaning it. “That would be an honor, your highness.” 

It was an understatement that the spectators were shocked at the turn of events. Junmyeon did not miss how Kyungsoo was looking at him, what he thought as judgingly, and all he could do was react with a polite smile. He did not know that Kyungsoo was actually relieved and almost impressed with him for getting them through an unexpected hurdle to a quiet dinner between the two royal families. 

As for Sehun’s eyes on himself, Junmyeon could not have reacted more differently to him. He gave the younger a deadly scowl. Junmyeon’s reaction to Sehun did not soften even when he was being served with Domimyeon, which was apparently cooked just for Junmyeon on special request from Sehun. At least that was what the man who was serving the dish informed him quietly. 

Junmyeon was confused and apprehensive of all the attention that the younger had been bestowing on him. He did not have a good feeling about it. And he was justified in being careful, especially of someone who had been relentlessly at his throat for the past several days. So, he refused to be served with domimyeon and when he saw Sehun looking at him curiously, he scowled again.

******************************

It was a quiet meal. It was eerily quiet for such a large company of people. Obviously there were some looks and smiles exchanged but that was it. Jongdae and Junmyeon were probably the only ones who exchanged some words and they too talked in whispers.

“What the hell was that! Were you sucking up to the eldest Oh on my behalf?” Jongdae inquired as soon as he found the chance. Junmyeon nodded, still conscious of the eyes on him.

“Why?” Jongdae asked a little louder, forgetting about the other people in the room.

Junmyeon glared at Jongdae to remind him to keep his volume down. And Jongdae mouthed an apology. After looking around and making sure no one was attempting to listen in to their conversation, Junmyeon carefully whispered. 

“He was looking down on you and I did not like that. I can’t possibly fight him. It was easier to subdue him by feeding into his tall ego. And it worked. See, he looks so pleased.”

Jongdae instinctively looked in King-father Oh’s direction and Junmyeon was indeed right. “I did not know this man even had a biography.”

“It’s freaking long and so damn boring.” Junmyeon shared his short review of the piece of writing.

Jongdae frowned in realization. “You’ve read it!” It was more of a statement than a question. Junmyeon shrugged and replied, “Did last night. I wanted to be as prepared as possible for this dinner to settle my nerves.”

“Nerd!” Jongdae called the other affectionately. Junmyeon pouted in the most adorable way and Sehun’s heart did a little flip-flop on the sight.

*********************************

The dinner was almost done and every person in the room was on their edge again. It was finally time to open the pandora’s box and reveal why the prince was kept unknown to citizens of Angoratalamh and the rest of the world.

Before King-father Oh or anyone else from the Oh family could raise their queries, King Kim decided to pull the bandage off of the wound on his own accord.

“I believe you are all curious why no one knew about the existence of Prince Junmyeon. To put it briefly, before he was born our family astrologer had warned us that he was going to bring misfortune to our family and the kingdom of Angoratalamh. We ignored his wise words of caution and brought a curse upon our family and kingdom. Because the day Prince Junmyeon was born, Angoratalamh lost the battle to Caponterre. 

In fact, since the prince has been born, Angoratalamh has only seen it’s downfall. And we did not know how to inform our people that the cause of all their tribulations was their own prince. The astrologer believed the only way to prevent any more misery to the kingdom was to keep the prince’s evil energy locked away and thus the prince has been restricted to his chamber. He is a curse to our kingdom and I hope you all would understand why we have kept him hidden.”

A pin-drop silence followed the revelation by King Kim. The members of the Oh family were still assimilating what they were told and looking at each other to gauge others’ reactions while the queen and princes of the Kim family had their heads slightly bowed except for Jongdae and Junmyeon. 

Jongdae was fuming even after hearing the illogical reasons behind his brother’s mistreatment probably a millionth time. And Junmyeon continued eating his food like everything just said had nothing to do with him. It had stopped affecting him years ago.

Sehun was the first to break the silence. “I am sorry but I don’t understand. King of Angoratalamh, were you joking right now?”

Everybody looked at Sehun with different emotions. Kyungsoo could not believe his brother just asked what he did. Jongdae felt like finally someone called out the absurdity of the situation. Minseok was afraid of his father’s reaction. And Junmyeon was taken aback.

King Kim frowned and aggressively retorted. “I don’t think anything of what I just said was funny.” 

“So, you are seriously saying that Prince Junmyeon is the cause of affliction for your family and kingdom? And that you lost the battle all those years ago because he was born?” Sehun questioned again in disbelief. King Kim only squinted his eyes in anger. While the elders in the Oh family seemed passive about everything transpiring in the room. 

Kyungsoo elbowed Sehun in the ribs to make him shut up. However, Sehun continued speaking anything and everything that came into his mind. “If Prince Junmyeon made Angoratalamh lose the battle, that is equivalent to saying he made Caponterre win the battle. Does that make him a blessing to us?” Sehun said with a mix of sarcasm and incredulity. 

However, King-father Oh must have agreed with Sehun’s deductions, despite his seeming indifference to the whole situation, because he nonchalantly announced with no regard for the king of Angoratalamh, “I think I am going to retire to my chambers for the night. And Prince Junmyeon, I hope you won’t stay restricted to your chambers while the royals of Caponterre grace your palace with our presence and I will get to see you around.” 

Kyungsoo noted that King Kim had never looked so displeased before. And that reaction was understandable for a king whose orders got overruled. However, Kyungsoo was worried about the friction this was going to create between the two kingdoms. 

Saying that much, King-father Oh left the dining room. After that, with nothing more left to do, other royal members too started dispersing to their chambers for the night. However, Sehun had other plans because he got up from his seat to approach Junmyeon. And as soon as Junmyeon saw him advancing towards himself, he made a run out of the dining room, paying no heed to Jongdae calling after him.

Jongdae frowned at Junmyeon’s odd behaviour but did not follow him out of the room. Not until he had a good laugh about Minseok’s misery on getting sticky jam all over his hands and the sleeves of his white shirt. Also not until he got to rub it in by saying, “This made it a fulfilling dinner.”

**********************

Sehun had visited Junmyeon’s chamber uncountable times a day, everyday since the dinner the two royal families had shared three days ago. But Junmyeon was never there. In fact, he was nowhere to be found, not in the library not in the dispensary. 

Sehun was growing impatient. All he wanted to do was apologize but he never got to see the man again after he stepped out of the dining room that day. It was like Junmyeon had disappeared in thin wind.

After disappointing himself yet another time, Sehun was headed towards his own chamber from where Junmyeon’s chamber was located, when he met his sister Ji-Ah on the way. Not used to exchanging civilized greetings with his brother, Ji-Ah stuck her tongue out, expecting a similar if not worse response. However, Sehun was more interested in the several books his sister was carrying.

“Did you just rob the Kim family’s library?”

“I might be your sister but I am not you. I don’t take other people’s things without their permission.” The woman retorted with sass. Expecting more information, Sehun did not interrupt her. “I asked Prince Junmyeon. In fact, he gave these to me.”

“You met Prince Junmyeon? Where? Is he still in the library?” The sudden change in his brother’s excitement levels shocked Ji-Ah for a moment.

Still confused, Ji-Ah shared with her brother, “I met him by coincidence. He was coming out from, I guess it was Prince Jongdae’s chamber. He is pretty cool. We chatted for a while and I told him how bored I was, so he suggested…” Sehun was growing impatient with the long narrative.

“Cut your crap. Is he still in the library?”

“Rude! But I suppose. He...” Ji-Ah did not get to finish before Sehun charged towards the direction of the library. “Oh my god! Was I not supposed to tell him about Prince Junmyeon?” Ji-Ah contemplated by herself.

*****************************

There he was. Standing between shelves all filled with books, was the man Sehun had been looking for what seemed like ages. Junmyeon was finally right in front of him, checking the contents of some book.

Sehun did not approach Junmyeon nor did anything to let the other know of his presence, fearing the other would turn into smoke and dissipate in air. It was only after a while, when Junmyeon got his head out of the book, did he notice his nemesis staring right at him. 

“Hi!” Junmyeon spoke tentatively while his mind and eyes were everywhere thinking and looking for an escape. Sehun could almost see the screws moving in the other man’s mind, hatching an escape route. Thus, when Junmyeon threw a couple of books at Sehun with all his strength, Sehun blocked them reflexively and started chasing after the running man without much delay. 

Running left, then right, again left, then right and so on, Junmyeon tried every way of dodging to not get caught. A run and chase ensued between the two princes which came to a stall only when Sehun managed to corner Junmyeon. Junmyeon’s eyes went wide and Sehun briefly wondered how he resembled a trapped rabbit.

Sehun asked, trying to sound non-threatening, ”Why are you running away from me?”. 

“Why are you chasing after me?”

“I just want to talk.”

Junmyeon’s eyes suddenly looked behind Sehun before he called out pleadingly, “Dae!”. Instinctively Sehun twisted his upper body to look behind himself. As soon as he did that, a knee hit his side, causing him to lose his footing. While Sehun tried to regain his balance, in that split of a second Junmyeon was out of his sight. The hit was not strong enough to hurt Sehun’s ribs but it definitely wounded his pride.

***********************************

Junmyeon got out of the library and made a beeline for Jongdae’s chamber with a big smile on his face. He was judging himself so hard for almost enjoying a man following him to the point it could count as harassment. But it was an insanely hot and slightly silly man that was following him and such men had always been his weakness. 

Yet, he needed to make sure not to get caught by Sehun. Thus, he was walking so fast while constantly checking behind himself, that he almost collided with Minseok around a corner. 

“Hello! What’s up with you this morning?” Minseok asked, trying to sound casual.

“Good Morning hyung! You know just the usual. Nothing special.” Minseok did not need to know about his little adventure at the library. At that thought, Junmyeon checked behind himself once again and not seeing Sehun around, he decided it was not a bad idea to have a little chat with his brother. “How about yourself?”

“Me too! I mean nothing special with me either. Just…” Minseok tried hard to not show how he was feeling but soon gave up. “Did you help Jongdae with the prank that day? I mean with the jam in my jacket and all.”

Guilt was instantly painted over Junmyeon’s face.

“So you did.” Minseok guessed it sadly.

“Yeah! I am sorry.” Junmyeon spoke cheekily.  
“Why? Do you hate me?”

“No! Not at all. I love you.” With that Junmyeon engulfed his brother in a hug and planted a kiss on his brother’s cheek. “It was just for stupid fun.”

Minseok visibly relaxed in his brother’s hold. “Why are you so huggy and kissy all the time? And why would you not stay back to enjoy the prank you played?” Minseok’s face contorted in a way that could count as a pout.

Just then Junmyeon heard his name being called out in the now somewhat familiar voice. “I promise I will stay back to enjoy whenever I play a prank on you next time. But right now I got to go. Bye!” Saying all that in a single breath, Junmyeon was gone in a flash before he could even hear Minseok protest. “That’s not what I meant… Where are you… Bye I guess.”

********************************

Junmyeon had merely managed to escape Sehun when he bid goodbye to Minseok. For a long time after that Sehun kept running in circles after Junmyeon around the residential quarter of the palace with tenacity the older had never expected of him. So, when Junmyeon got tired he ran outside the residential quarters and off into the woods that were within the premises of the palace. As expected, Sehun did know his way around those woods and thus did not dare to follow him.

Junmyeon spent his day wandering in the woods and simply enjoying nature, starting to walk back to the residential quarter only when it got dark and the chances of Sehun still looking around for him were low. 

Just as the gates to the residential quarter came into his line of sight, he was pounced upon and knocked to the ground by something. Or someone. Someone monstrously strong and tall. 

Before Junmyeon could assimilate what just happened he heard, “Got you! Finally! I had to wait hiding behind the tree all day for you.” It was Sehun. And he sounded a bit too cheerful for someone on a stakeout for an entire day. Or maybe he was cheerful about being able to hunt down Junmyeon.

It struck Junmyeon how this was probably just a hunt for Sehun. And he was the prey. A trapped prey as he was lying on the ground on his back with Sehun sitting on top of his chest, the taller’s thighs locking his arms from the two sides.

Sehun internally celebrated his victory but a bit too early. Before even a grin could reach his face, something hit the back of his head. Sehun turned his head by 90 degrees to check behind himself, only for a foot to hit the side of his face. Then another and another. Sehun took a few moments to realize it was the foot of the man under him, apparently a man with a very flexible waist.

“Oh dammit! Stop.”

Sehun tried to block the attacks using his thighs but that freed up Junmyeon’s arms who started throwing punches. Eventually Sehun had Junmyeon pinned down by holding the latter's wrists above his head and placing each of his knees on either side of the other man’s hips. Both were breathing heavily.

“Get off me.” Junmyeon's voice came out stern.

“No, I can’t. Not until you hear me out and forgive me. You have left me no other choice. I have been trying to apologize to you all day, in fact several days.”

“Forgive? Apologize?” Junmyeon did not see this coming. “What for?”

“You were a prince and I treated you badly.”

“So you are apologizing to me only because I am a prince?” There was an edge to Junmyeon’s question. “If I were really a servant, everything you did to me or intended to do to me would have been justified?”

“I guess... You could put it like that if you want.”

“Why were you asking for me? What did you intend to do to me?” Junmyeon asked seriously.

Sehun was taken aback by the straightforwardness of the question. “You don’t need to know.”  
“Are the rumors true? Were you going to beat me up for some fun?”

Sehun could hear the judgement in the tone loud and clear. Sehun’s features hardened and he solemnly replied “Yes!”

“So if your family banishes my family from Angoratalamh in the future and I lose my title of a prince, you would do that to me?”

“You don’t have to worry about that. You are not losing your title anytime soon. That’s not why we are here.”

Junmyeon squinted his eyes. After taking a few deep breaths to calm himself down, Junmyeon asked, no sign of aggressiveness in his tone, “Okay!”

“Do you forgive me then?”

“Can’t we talk normally? We don’t have to talk like this.” Junmyeon eyed their position.

“Yes! Of course! Sorry.” Sehun spoke cheerfully and even helped Junmyeon to his feet.

As soon as Junmyeon got to his feet, he started searching for something in his pockets. Sehun ignored it and started asking, “So, ....” but he was interrupted by Junmyeon. “I think I lost my coin.”

“What coin?”

“It was a coin made of gold. It was a gift. I guess it fell from my pocket when you pounced at me earlier. I will look this way. Can you look for it the other way?” Junmyeon pointed in the direction from where he was coming earlier when he was attacked by Sehun.

“Okay.” Sehun obediently followed where Junmyeon was pointing. After looking around in the dark for about a minute, Sehun asked “What does it look like exactly?” But he got no response. When he turned around to look at the other man, he was nowhere to be found. 

Sehun was dumbfounded for a minute, then started laughing hysterically. He laughed like he wanted to cry for a while before pulling at his own hair in frustration at being fooled by Junmyeon. Again. Then to contain the anger boiling inside him, he punched hard at a nearby tree.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTES: Hello everyone! Sorry the update got delayed. But it was a long update and it took me a while, especially the part about King Kim's prejudices against Junmyeon. I could have possibly divided this into two but I really wanted to get through with the last part of the chapter here. Hope for your understanding and that you don't mind 5k+ updates.
> 
> And thank for all your lovely and engaging comments ^ ^. They are such a booster. Please keep sharing your thoughts :D.


	7. Chapter 7

It was already dawn and Sehun was exhausted. He had been searching for Junmyeon all around the palace all through the night but the sneaky man was nowhere to be found.

After Junmyeon tricked him to look for a lost non-existent coin and took off, Sehun was more determined to find the man and finish their talk, more than he was determined for anything ever. He started his search with the most obvious chamber in the palace: Jongdae’s. 

Jongdae was all by himself when Sehun charged into his room with no explanation and started searching every nook and corner. Sehun was hyper and aggressive. And Jongdae was baffled but when he realized what Sehun was upto, he did not waste any time to hold the man by his collar and ask in a threatening manner, “Why are you still looking for Junmyeon hyung? Leave him alone.”

“No!” Jongdae was about to lose his temper for good but just then Sehun started his rambling with elaborate hand gestures. “Chamber… Library… chased him...left, right, left, right...round round round...cornered him… kneed me… all day, behind a tree… coin… ran away again… I promise...I, just talk….”

Holding his laugh, Jongdae asked “Man! Junmyeon hyung broke you. Just go get some rest.”

“Ughh I am not stupid. Not even naive. He just… got away. Won’t get away next time.” Sehun pushed Jongdae’s hands aside and left in frustration. Jongdae considered for a second if he should follow the prince but decided against it, seeing how well Junmyeon was handling him on his own.

But that was just the beginning of Sehun’s night long quest. He visited every chamber, every room, every corner of the residential part of the palace, Junmyeon’s chamber included. He had to be sly to visit some chambers and covert in some others but he managed despite his fragile state. Yet, nothing proved to be fruitful.

Now tired and accepting his defeat, he was finally headed to his own chamber to turn in for the night, or more like morning. The flame in all the oil lamps in his room had already burned out and whatever little was visible was due to the morning twilight. Thanks to the mellow rays from the rising sun, he managed to reach his bed without stumbling on any furniture.

As soon as he fell backwards onto his bed, he landed on something or rather someone. Possibly someone he had been searching for hours, if he had recognized the sound of the groan correctly. Obviously Junmyeon’s first reaction was to flee as soon as he regained his senses after being woken from his unintended slumber.

Sehun’s instincts were quick to kick in and he used his left hand to get a hold on the wrist of the fleeing man. Junmyeon struggled to free himself but Sehun was strong enough to completely overpower him physically.

“What the fuck is your problem? Why do you keep running away from me? I mean no harm.” Sehun finally spoke, tired of their back and forth.

“You mean no harm? Well! I don’t believe you. What is your problem? Why the fuck do you keep chasing me?” Came the retort.

“I just want you to forgive me. Is that too much to ask for?”

“Are you forcing me into forgiving you? You are so twisted. Anyways why the hell do you care whether I forgive you or not?”

Sehun let out a deep sigh. “It’s not just whether you forgive me or not per say.”

“Then?”

“Whenever you look at me, I see this fear and disgust in your eyes. I don’t know why but that is affecting me. I just want to make you believe that I won’t harm you.” Sehun felt Junmyeon lose some of the stiffness in his muscles.

For a few moments Junmyeon was intently just staring at Sehun, contemplating if he should say what was on his mind or not. “You are getting affected seeing fear in my eyes. I wonder why would that be. You should be enjoying that.”

“Huh?”

“It’s not like you would not have seen people getting scared of you. When you beat the shit out of people, are they not scared of you? Isn’t that why you do it in the first place? That gives you a high. Or is it that they are not even allowed to cower when you hit them?” There was aggression in Junmyeon’s tone and his eyes were full of judgement.

Sehun was quiet, looking back into Junmyeon’s eyes staring at him. Junmyeon could not understand the emotions reflecting in other’s eyes but he was certain that there was no trace of guilt in them. It annoyed him and made him angry. So angry that tears started brimming in his own eyes.

“You can’t just hurt people and not let them even defend themself. What joy can seeing people helpless like that possibly bring to anyone.

I can tell you from my experience, the feeling of helplessness is the worst that any human can ever feel and those you hurt are humans. So what if they are not princes or kings. That gives you no right to make them feel that way. That gives you no right to do anything against their wish.”

By the time Junmyeon finished talking he was crying with tears running down his cheeks. Sehun was taken aback by the sudden crying and the crying man’s words. His grip on the other man loosened a bit, his determination wavering. He took a deep breath.

“Is this another act to fool me.” A frown grew out on Junmyeon’s face. “Because I am not falling for your tricks again. Those are getting beyond frustrating now. Last time I hit a punch at the tree and got hurt.” Sehun unveiled the swollen and bruised knuckles of his right hand.

Junmyeon let out a gasp, his running nose and puffy eyes turning a shade of red. Anyone in that condition would have looked a little disgusting but, to Sehun, Junmyeon looked like a beauty to behold in that moment.

With his free hand, Junmyeon reached out to hold Sehun’s injured hand and examine it. The skin was visibly torn around the knuckles and due to the absence of sufficient light, Junmyeon could not check if there were any splinters of wood embedded under the skin. Going by Sehun’s account and the looks of it, the wound should have been left untreated for hours now and there were high chances of it contracting infection.

Suddenly worry was painted all over Junmyeon’s face and his lower lip was bearing the brunt of it, because of him biting on it hard. “Why did you not get it treated? Do you want to get the wound infected and possibly die? Wood splinter infections can be lethal.”

Sehun almost panicked hearing the other’s scary implications before the realization struck him that this was possibly another one of Junmyeon’s tricks to escape the conversation and reaching the rational conclusion that Sehun is harmless. A minute ago the elder was crying, calling Sehun dreadful and now he was worrying over the same apparently dreadful person’s well-being. That did not add up well.

“Let me help with this. I have some supplies in my chamber.” Junmyeon continued.

“Here you go again. Switching your strategy to escape, isn’t it?” Sehun sounded uncertain to some degree.

Junmyeon's eyes went wide before he rolled them in disbelief. Junmyeon was not one to let people die under his nose, especially when he could help them, irrespective of whether he personally found the person’s character agreeable or not. And after learning about Sehun’s stubbornness the last couple of weeks, Junmyeon thought he had no other choice.

So, with easy and quick movement of his arm and flick of his wrist, Junmyeon managed to knock Sehun out with a blow in the back of his neck, applying pressure to the taller's occipital plexus with utmost precision.

**********************************  
Sehun groaned while gaining consciousness and slowly opened his eyes to look at his surroundings. The sun had already risen and there was ample light around him. 

It took him some time to realize that he was in his personal chamber in the palace of Angoratalamh, lying on his own bed and that someone was holding his right hand. And that someone was Junmyeon who was doing something to his hand, something possibly fishy. Thus, his first instinct was to pull his hand away and sit up.

He looked down at his hand when he felt a burning session in the back of his right hand. There was some green mush applied to his knuckles, the one he had hurt while punching the tree. Clearly Junmyeon was the one who had applied it.

“This thing is burning. Are you trying to hurt me?” The little time that Sehun had known Junmyeon, he did not think Junmyeon could do something like that but he asked nevertheless.

Junmyeon glared angrily. “Here I am trying to save your life and you are accusing me. This burning thing is just a mixture of leaves of some medicinal plants to cure your wound. I had to take out the splinters of wood that were there under your skin and antisepticize the wound. How can you be so stupid to wander around the palace all night without getting it treated. Did you have a death wish?” 

Sehun looked away in shame. Junmyeon had not been making things up about Sehun’s injury being dangerous. If he would have been saying all that just to get away, he would have already got away while Sehun was unconscious but he was there, taking care of his wound. 

“Now can I?” Junmyeon pointed at Sehun’s hand in his lap. Sehun quietly offered his hand. Junmyeon continued applying the ointment carefully on the back of the taller’s hand. 

Sehun felt his mouth go dry. He could not take his eyes off the elder, his mind no longer focused on his pain. Junmyeon’s touch was light and careful, he would also blow over the skin wherever he would finish applying the ointment. He was so concentrated on his task that he did not feel Sehun’s eyes on himself.

By the time Junmyeon finished bandaging up his hand, Sehun was certain the other could feel his heart from how hard it was beating.

“This should be fine for a couple of days. But I would recommend getting the bandages changed every day. You can visit the dispensary or ask someone from the dispensary to visit you and dress your wound for you in your chamber.”

Sehun in his sudden nervousness heard half the things Junmyeon said and missed the others. And quickly replied. “Okay. Thank you.” Junmyeon gave a slight nod in acknowledgement of other’s gratitude.

Junmyeon gathered his supplies, while Sehun contemplated. When Junmyeon was about to get up from Sehun’s bed, Sehun suddenly blurted out, “I am sorry.”

“Huh? For falsely accusing me earlier?”

Sehun took a deep breath and replied. “That too but essentially for everything.” Junmyeon raised his brows. He was about to repeat what he had said earlier but Sehun continued before he could be interrupted. “This time I am not apologising for doing all those things to a prince. I am apologizing for doing those things, period. I am sorry and I mean it. I won’t do anything like that again for as long as my stay lasts here. I promise.”

Junmyeon squinted his eyes, trying to gauge if the other was being honest. “I refuse to forgive you.” 

Sehun stared at Junmyeon for a while. “Okay.”

“Really? Suddenly it is okay if I don’t forgive you?” 

“At least you don’t look disgusted with me now. I can live with that.” Sehun gave a small but genuine smile which was not returned.

“Okay I guess. If you say so.” Junmyeon was skeptical. Nevertheless he started getting up again to leave, only to be stopped in his tracks again.

“Why did you not tell me you are a prince?”

“Huh?”

“The first time we met in the library, you agreed when I asked you if you were a servant. You did not tell me otherwise even when I kept chasing you all those times after that.”

“I don’t think knowing I am a prince would have stopped you. I mean you were chasing me until dawn this morning. You must really like chasing me.”

“That was different. You know what I mean... why did you lie to me?”

“Would you have believed me if I had told you there was a fourth prince of Angoratalamh? A secret prince? And I knew how awkward it was going to be for my father and brothers to explain my existence if I did tell you the truth and you would have believed me.” Junmyeon shrugged to emphasize the obvious reason for his lie.

“Why? Just why? I don’t understand why they kept you a secret all these years though?”

“You have heard my father.”

“But that makes no sense.”

Junmyeon smiled but his throat was choked up when he replied. “That is the truth though. That apparent nonsense is the biggest truth of my life.”

“I don’t mean to offend you by asking such things but… still how?”

Junmyeon cleared his throat. 

“My father had never been a religious man growing up. When he became the king, he faced a lot of pressure from the court’s royal priest and ministers, who were followers, for his lack of participation in religious propogandas. Over the time they started interpreting this lack of participation to his lack in ability and motivation to run a kingdom. He was compared to his predecessors and looked down upon.

So, to prove his mantle, he decided to wage a war against the kingdom of Caponterre, despite severe opposition from the military general. We all know the war between our kingdoms went on for over 2 years. Though I am not sure if you know that battle was paused during the Chuseok festival both years.”

“Yeah, of course. It was during Chuseok of the second battle year that my father married my mother. My mother was the princess of Paladaiseu and after their alliance, Paladaiseu became our ally in the battle, that is what led to our eventual victory.” Sehun supplied everything he was told about the bloody war.

Junmyeon nodded in agreement. “While Caponterre used the Chuseok break to strengthen their military power, everyone in Angoratalamh were celebrating the festival because they were certain that we were going to win the battle. No one had foreseen Paladaiseu joining forces with Caponterre. During that time my mother, Queen of Angoratalamh, conceived her second child with the King. 

In the following months, Angoratalamh’s standing in the war weakened considerably and finally the King of Angoratalamh had to surrender to save his own life. That was the day that the war came to an end, with Angoratalamh defeated. It was also the day that the king’s second child, that happened to be me, was born. 

I personified the crushing defeat to the king, defeat that stripped the kingdom of all it’s glory and caused it’s citizens immeasurable misery. I was the fruit of his celebrations during the festival of Chuseok, when he should have been focusing on the ongoing war. 

When the royal astrologer declared that I had brought the misfortune upon the Kingdom, the king believed it. He wanted to hear that, he needed to hear that. That was the only thing that could have helped him survive the guilt and the defeat. Ever since he has become a very superstitious person and I am sore to his eyes.”

“What a weak and terrible man!”

Tears were welling up in Junmyeon’s eyes and his voice came out constricted. “No! He is not a bad person. It’s the circumstances that were bad. He just did not lose the battle, he lost so much more and all of that was a big burden to carry alone. Being a king is a big responsibility and that dawned on him after the defeat. I understand that he needed a defense mechanism and I provided that. I do not hold that against him.

Possibly things would have gotten better for me after several years and honestly they did start to get better by the time I had turned 12 or 13. Just my situation did not let that happen.”

Sehun kept looking at Junmyeon thinking over his last words, wondering if he should enquire about it further but decided against it. After some time of only comfortable silence enveloping them, Sehun spoke with sincerity, “I am sorry.”

“Why are you sorry?”

“If my grandfather and father had not defeated your father, all this would have not happened to you.”

For the first time during the conversation, a small smile reached Junmyeon’s lips. “That’s a weird conclusion, Prince Sehun. Again they were just dealing with their circumstances and trying to do what was best for them and their kingdom. They did not start the war. And they cannot be blamed for ending it.”

“Don’t think too much Prince Sehun. I am fine and my situation will be fine too someday.” Junmyeon assured the other when Sehun had remained quiet and somber for a while. “I will get going now. You should get some rest.” With that Junmyeon got up to leave. He was about to exit Sehun’s chamber when the taller man called him again.  
“Junmyeon hyung!” Junmyeon stopped in his tracks and turned around. The shock from how Sehun addressed him was evident on his face. “Can I call you hyung?” Sehun quickly added. “You can call me Sehun… of course only if you would like that.”

Junmyeon stared at the other, who was squirming in nervousness. Junmyeon had to try very hard to keep a smug smile from creeping to his lips. “Rest well Prince Sehun.” Saying that Junmyeon left the chamber.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTES: Hello everyone. Sorry, it has been forever since I have updated this story. I have had this chapter sitting in my drafts since forever and I wanted to upload it after some finishing touches but something or the other kept coming up. But it is finally here. After Junmyeon's update today, I was like 'there is no way I am delaying it any further, to hell with everything else'.
> 
> Possibly some readers have lost interest in this story but if you have reached this far, I am sure you are one of those still interested in this and I am grateful for you. So, thank you and I hope you enjoyed this. Let's have a good week ahead :D.


	8. Chapter 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: There is use of mature language, nothing extreme but just putting it out.

“Hyung! Hyung!” Junmyeon rolled his eyes. Ever since their conversation that day in Sehun’s room, the man would show up to his door, calling him hyung and asking him to help dress his splintered knuckles. “Time to change my bandages!” The guy was being forceful again, kind of forceful even though in a harmless way. At least Junmyeon thought being addressed hyung or asking for help was harmless.

Junmyeon did not know how to feel about it. A part of his mind felt frustrated with himself for letting Sehun address him like that without feeling as annoyed as he should. Another part refused to do something and get the other to stop from using the honorific. Junmyeon decided it was time to change that.

“Are you really going to keep doing that?”

“Doing what? Asking you to dress my wounds?”

“That too! But I am talking about you calling me hyung.” When Sehun looked at him confused, Junmyeon elaborated. “I don’t remember ever telling you that you could call me hyung.”

“I had asked you, remember, and you did not say no.”

“Yes, I did.”

“No, you did not.”

“I did. I call you Prince Sehun and not just by your name.”

“Yeah so?”

“Prince Sehun, don’t act naive. You asked me if you could call me Hyung and in return offered for me to call you by name. And I rejected it when I referred to you by your title.”

“I was not acting naive. I really did not think that meant a refusal. I thought the two were not correlated. And accept it you never really said no.” Sehun finished with a candid grin plastered to his face.

“But I never agreed either.” Junmyeon tried to reason and then with a deep sigh continued. “Fine! Prince Sehun, stop calling me hyung. There I said it.”

“But I have been addressing you like that for a while. It is illegal to stop it suddenly.” Sehun pouted and Junmyeon rolled his eyes. There really was no winning against this brat.

“So dressing then?” Sehun put forth his bandaged hand. And Junmyeon rolled his eyes yet another time. 

“I am busy. I can’t help you with your hand. You should go to the dispensary. Let them help you with the dressing.”

“What if they don’t do it properly?”

“Why won’t they?” Sehun shrugged in response. “They might not be as careful as you are.”

“Of course they will be.”

“But they won’t blow on my hand as you always do.”

“Prince Sehun! I really am busy.” The corners of Sehun’s mouth turned down. Junmyeon felt he needed to give a reason. “I need to get some books from the library.”

“I will help you with carrying the mountain of books you always get from the library.” Junmyeon sighed in resignation and proceeded to get his medical supplies.

“I have a question for you which you can answer while you work on dressing my wound.” Sehun said it casually. And Junmyeon thought ‘Of course he has more questions’.

Another thing Junmyeon could not get the other to stop from doing was asking questions. And he also could not stop himself from answering those questions. In the last few days Junmyeon had learned that Sehun was a very inquisitive person. And he himself was a bit too easy in sharing his life with a stranger despite that stranger’s princely stature. More so when some of those were very personal questions.

Last time Sehun had enquired about the lack of Queen Kim’s stand on Junmyeon’s situation. Junmyeon had been relatively open in expressing how women were not allowed to have an opinion in the world they lived in. That day Junmyeon had inadvertently revealed how Queen Kim had been disrespected and ignored by the King when she had dared to oppose his treatment of their second child. 

After a little more prodding Sehun had learned from the older how the king had started his fling with another woman, who later became pregnant with Jongdae, to make the queen realize her boundaries. And how the queen had to forego her pride and her perspective to retain her position in the palace. 

What had amazed and touched Sehun the most was the lack of bitterness in Junmyeon’s tone for his mother and her choices and the eminent empathy and compassion for his mother’s, and generally women’s position in the society. On the other hand, Junmyeon had later over analyzed why he said what he said and regretted washing his family’s dirty laundry in front of not only an outsider but also an enemy.

So today Junmyeon decided to put his foot down. “Prince Sehun!, sorry but I refuse to answer any more questions from you.”

“You have not even heard my question.”

“Why do you keep asking me questions?” Junmyeon asked in a higher pitch.

Sehun pointedly ignored the irritation evident in other’s tone and shrugged. “Because I am curious about my new friend.”

Junmyeon snorted. “We are not friends.” Sehun’s raised brows and pout conveyed his displeasure on hearing that. 

“We can become friends after we get to know each other better. I ask you so many questions because I want to know you. You too can ask me questions to learn more about me.” Sehun quietly suggested.

Junmyeon took a deep breath. Junmyeon was sure that he was on friendly terms with all the people around him but he did not know what being someone’s friend entailed. Then he remembered how Sehun and he had started out and he considered the situation further. 

After a while, Junmyeon closed his eyes and shook his head to get out of his own mind. “I don’t know if I want to. Anyways, how much more do you want to know about me? Are you going to ask me what size is my dick next?”

The words left Junmyeon’s mouth before he could think them through. Sehun’s eyes went wide, staring at Junmyeon in shock and any trace of a smile ghosting from his lips. Junmyeon looked back equally shocked and nervousness creeping to his gut. The silence lingered for a brief moment while the two kept looking at each other. Finally Junmyeon diverted his eyes and bowed his head, suddenly finding the pattern on the floor more interesting.

“Why would I ask that? I know for sure it is tiny just like yourself.” Junmyeon snapped his neck so quickly at hearing those words from the other. Sehun had a teasing smirk etched on his lips. Relief washed over Junmyeon and his shoulders relaxed. He let out a breath that he did not even realize himself to have been holding.

“It is not tiny. And I am not tiny. You are just a monster.” Junmyeon growled aggressively.

The smirk on Sehun’s lips stretched wider and accompanied by a very flirty wink, he confirmed, “Yeah I am. There too.”

Junmyeon’s eyes followed to the other’s crotch unwittingly and Sehun let out a boisterous chuckle. Turning a deep shade of red from embarrassment on realizing where his eyes were, Junmyeon spitted out the words, “Shut up! I don’t want to know”, before turning around to hide his face. 

“I mean you were the one who started talking and comparing the size of our dicks.” Sehun teased the older further. “By the way I am a little over 8 inch, not even hard. Isn’t that at least double the size of yours? I am sure it is.”

“Shut up! Please!,” Junmyeon begged without looking at the taller and Sehun kindly complied.

“Okay! Okay! But you can no longer tell me we are not friends. We have discussed our dicks in too much detail now to not become friends.” Junmyeon just groaned in surrender.

**********************************

Junmyeon had almost finished patching up Sehun’s wounded knuckles and Sehun had a lingering smile all through that. Junmyeon tried his best to ignore the eyes on himself and struggled to keep the heat away from his cheeks.

Junmyeon finally broke the silence. “When will you stop staring at me?”

“I am just waiting for you to stop blushing.”

“I am not blushing.” Junmyeon lied blatantly.  
Sehun reached out to pinch the older’s cheeks which took the other by surprise and left him even more flustered. “You look so cute.”

Junmyeon immediately got up to get away from Sehun on the pretext of putting away his medical supplies. When he was done, he started to walk out of his chamber and towards the library, closely followed by Sehun. When Junmyeon looked at the following man questioningly, he simply replied, “I had promised I would help you with the books.”

“W-what did you want to know?” Junmyeon stuttered trying to start some conversation, feeling awkward from silently walking beside the taller. “You said you had something to ask.”

“Oh yeah! How do you know so much about medicinal plants and all these things?” Sehun pointed at the bandages tied around his hand. “I saw you with some plants at the dispensary that time too.” Sehun mentioned remembering the day he had finally learned about Junmyeon’s identity after dragging him from the dispensary all the way to the residential quarters of the palace.

Junmyeon shrugged and answered like it was nothing. “I just like learning about plants and their medicinal properties that can be used in curing disorders and diseases.”

“Don’t downplay it by saying that you ‘just like learning about plants’. It seems more than just a hobby to you. I mean even from the little I have seen I can tell you are good at this.”

In moments like these, Junmyeon felt like an open book from how easily Sehun could read him inside out. “You are right. No, it is not just a hobby. It means more, so much more to me. Truthfully, learning and practicing medicine has given a real meaning to my life.”

“You mean… you really work at the dispensary?” Sehun sounded absolutely amazed. Junmyeon hesitated, but only briefly, before opening up and sharing how he had been working as a physician at the palace dispensary for a while now.

“But please don’t tell anyone about it. No one knows, except for Jongdae, that I work at the dispensary.”

“Really? Why? People working at the dispensary must know.”

“They don’t know I am a prince. Only the head physician and his assistant know about my royal title.”

“You are really no ordinary prince.” Sehun meant it as a compliment but reading from Junmyeon’s expressions, he apparently did not see it that way. So, Sehun clarified his words. “I meant that in a good way. I have only met and heard of princes that learn to fight and learn to rule, never one that learns about medicines and works with others like an ordinary person.”

“That’s because I am not capable of becoming a warrior, more so not a ruler. I can’t hurt people.” When Sehun looked at him like he was about to stand up for the warriors and fighters, Junmyeon defended his statement. “I can’t hurt people even if it is for the right reasons. I like what I do, that is help people heal.”

“That’s why I said you are no ordinary prince. You are incredibly extraordinary.” Sehun announced as the two entered the royal library.

“Okay.” Junmyeon’s reply would have come across as rude if Sehun could not see how shy he had become from the genuine praise. Junmyeon quietly started searching the shelves for the books he needed and gathering them on a nearby table where Sehun had settled himself. 

After observing Junmyeon for a while, Sehun asked, “Do you have nothing you would like to ask me? I mean nothing apart from the size of my dick.” Junmyeon squinted his eyes at the other. “Just kidding but really. Don’t you want to know anything about me or anyone from the royal family of Caponterre?” Junmyeon’s ears perked up at the last few words.

Junmyeon slowly asked. “I have been curious about something related to your family for a while now. Is it okay to ask about your family?”

“So nothing about me?” Sehun pretended to be disappointed but smiled when Junmyeon became nervous. “I am just pulling your leg, hyung. Ask whatever you want to ask.”

“Why are you all here?”

“To visit the palace of Angoratalamh and its residents.” Sehun made it sound like it was an obvious and perfectly plausible reason.

“That’s it?”

“Of course. Why else!”

Junmyeon’s lips pressed together in a thin line. After contemplating for a moment, Junmyeon spoke his mind before turning around and getting back to his task. “And I had expected you to be honest.” 

Sehun got up from where he was sitting and followed Junmyeon behind a shelf of books. “I am not lying. See if you think we are here to overthrow your family, let me assure you that that's not why we are here.”

“Then why are you all here? Literally every member of your family is here. 

We have been demilitarized for a long time now. I am certain you have made sure that we have no hidden army ready to attack your kingdom in the last few weeks of your stay here. What else is keeping you all here… unless…”

“Unless?,” Sehun sounded unsure.

“Unless it’s about... Princess Ji-Ah… her marriage...“ Junmyeon’s eyes went wide with the realization that had just struck him.

“Damn you were not supposed to know that.” Sehun panicked. He had not expected Junmyeon to figure out so quickly. 

“Really? Is it really for that that your family is here?” Junmyeon’s voice automatically turned into a whisper to prevent from being overheard. The library was usually never visited by other people in the palace but he still wanted to make sure that no one heard something they were not supposed to know.

Sehun too looked around to make sure no one was around and replied in a similar whisper. “It’s not certain yet but the objective was to learn more about the royal family of Angoratalamh and know them personally. And examine the potential matches for the princess. But no one from your family was supposed to know about this. And now you do because I was stupid enough to let it out.” Sehun was displeased with himself.

“Don’t blame yourself. You did not tell me anything, I just happened to figure it out. And if you want I won’t tell anyone about it. I promise”

“Would you want to keep it to yourself?”

“Yeah! Of course.”

“Why would you want to do that?”

“Because I think it would be better this way.” Sehun squinted his eyes on hearing the other’s response.

“Do you want…” Sehun could not finish speaking the thought on his mind.

Nevertheless Junmyeon answered what he thought the other meant to ask. “Why wouldn’t I want it. I am sure each and every one of us would want that.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! I know it has been almost an entire month since I have updated. I am so sorry for the delay. But honestly, I really have been thinking of updating every single day but just...uh...life happened. I know this update is a small one but I needed to get something out to get back into the zone of this story. I am sorry if this update does not feel enough or relevant. I think it is a precursor to something big that is about to happen in the story next. Stay tuned I have already written a part of the next chapter and I might just put it out during the weekend or early next week. If not, definitely in a week :D.
> 
> Now to the highlight of this month for me: Junmyeon pic. I know it was Jongdae's enlistment pic and it should not have made me so happy...but....ugghhhh...is it really may fault? Definitely not. It's Junmyeon's fault, that dude has been missing forever. Truth be told I am glad he does not feel obligated to update us about his life and is really taking time off from the limelight to hopefully just chill.


	9. Chapter 9

Five days later  
Sehun could not stand it anymore, so he decided to quietly take his leave from the library, leaving his sister and Junmyeon all by themself, and head to his own chamber. He did not like how Junmyeon had been trying to woo his sister the past few days. He just did not like it. It did not sit well with him.  
Of course, for one it had to do with the fact that Sehun had come to trust the little man during the past several days. He felt he knew the man well, who in his opinion was kind, selfless, exceptionally understanding and never one to take advantage of others to better his life. But the man’s sudden shift in behaviour did not hold up against Sehun’s impression of him.  
Junmyeon would approach Ji-Ah on his own accord, offering to spend time with her and Ji-Ah of course welcomed his attention. They would visit the library to discuss, hopefully just books and go for long walks around the palace while talking about ‘who knows what’. They would always seem so lost in their discussions, lost in each other to care about anything around.  
It was not hard to see that Ji-Ah genuinely enjoyed Junmyeon’s company. She liked him a lot if the shine in her eyes every time she saw Junmyeon was any indication. But Sehun was not so sure if Junmyeon’s sudden interest in his sister was just as sincere and not a result of what he had learned recently.  
So, Sehun had rightfully grown wary of Junmyeon these past few days. He did not want someone to marry his sister only for the advantages that would come with becoming the son-in-law of the royal family of Caponterre. But there was more to why Sehun felt so let down and almost betrayed by Junmyeon, about which he did not dare to delve into.

************************

Junmyeon entered Jongdae’s chamber with a spring to his step. It had been a while since he had spent time with his brother but there was more reason to his excitement than just from getting to spend an evening with Jongdae. Even though Jongdae was never one to miss Junmyeon’s good mood, the former had grudges of his own that he needed to settle with the latter.  
“So you finally got time from your new best friend? Or should I say new best friends now?” Jongdae greeted the other with his complaints. He was perched on his bed and not on his working desk for a change.  
“Hello to you too Dae!” Junmyeon said, rolling his eyes. He continued as he flopped onto the other side of Jongdae’s bed. “And if you are done taking digs at me, can we do something that can be fun for the both of us this evening?”  
“Umm.. first of all that was not a dig.” Junmyeon raised his eyebrows and asked, “Really! It was not?”  
“Okay it was, a little bit. But really, what is going on between you and the guests from Caponterre?  
Last week Prince Sehun started addressing you hyung and yesterday I heard Princess Ji-Ah calling you oppa. Prince Sehun was all up in your space with his injured hand until a few days ago and now I see you hanging out with Princess Ji-Ah all the time. Is everything alright? I just want to make sure that the Oh siblings are not threatening you into doing any of those things.”  
“Come on, threatening someone into spending time. How does that even work! I had told you that I was only helping Sehun with his injured hand, you know bandaging and such. And I am spending time with Princess Ji-Ah on my free will. I am trying to get to know her better, that’s all. Stop worrying so much.”  
Jongdae squinted his eyes suspiciously. “You are trying to get to know Princess Ji-Ah on your own accord… why?”  
Junmyeon shrugged his shoulders casually, “Why not? She seems like a nice person to befriend.” Junmyeon had promised Sehun that he would not tell anyone from his family about why the royals of Caponterre were in their palace and even though Junmyeon hated lying to Jongdae, he felt he had no other choice.  
“Befriend? You want to befriend a princess? That too the princess of Caponterre?” Jongdae sounded worried. “Hyung! Please tell me what is going on?”  
Junmyeon again tried to dismiss the other’s imploding questions. “Dae! I have been waiting for so long to spend some quality time with you.  
As you have correctly pointed out I have been spending too much time with Prince Sehun and Princess Ji-Ah recently that I did not get to hang out with you as much as I would like.  
So can we please not waste this time talking about them or thinking about them and just do something fun together. I have been wanting to play cards with you for so long. Let’s play cards now.”  
Just as Junmyeon got up to get the deck of cards lying in Jongdae’s cupboard, the latter got a hold of his wrist and with worry lacing his features sincerely pleaded the other. “Hyung, tell me what is wrong. Let me help you get through it. I promise I won’t do anything on a whim but please don’t hide your problems and worries from me.”  
Junmyeon let out a deep sigh. He knew he could no longer keep it from Jongdae without agonizing his younger brother to death. He climbed back and crossed to the other side of the bed on his knees, where Jongdae was settled. He wrapped his arms around the other’s neck, placing his head over Jongdae’s sturdy shoulder before quietly expressing his thoughts.  
“I promise it’s nothing for you to be worried about. And Dae! Thank you for always having my back. I am not gonna lie, your concern for me sometimes makes me feel like a burden on you but also fills my heart with so much warmth.”  
A small smile erupted on Jongdae’s lips and he took Junmyeon into his embrace, running his hand over Junmyeon’s back in a comforting gesture. “You will never be a burden on me. So Hyung, tell me what is happening.”  
Junmyeon broke the hug and settled back down. It was going to be a long conversation.  
“First answer me honestly. How are things going with Na-Ra?”  
“Are you digressing again?”  
“No I am not.”  
“What has Na-Ra got anything to do with this?” Jongdae had been going out with a commoner named Na-Ra for a while now and Junmyeon was the only one in the family who knew about it. Jongdae had even introduced her to Junmyeon one time when the latter had managed to sneak out of the palace with him.  
“Just tell me.”  
Jongdae looked befuddled by the sudden question but tried to answer to his best possible. “It’s going good I guess.”  
“You guess? Aren’t you thinking of marrying her?”  
“Okay slow down Mister. First of all, I am not thinking of marrying right now, period... but... yes... when I would want to get settled down, hopefully it will be with Na-Ra.”  
Junmyeon was apprehensive of his next question, fearing it would be a dead giveaway but he asked nevertheless, making it as cryptic as possible. “Would you consider it if you got an opportunity to marry a princess and establish your position in the line to the throne of Angoratalamh?”  
“Umm that’s not even an option… No royal family would allow me to marry into their family. Are you forgetting I am an illegitimate child of the King?”  
“That’s irrelevant. You are a son of the King and a prince of Angoratalamh and no one can challenge that. So, would you consider it?”  
Jongdae let out an exasperated sigh. Jongdae was a realist and he was never one to shy away from his position. He was not ashamed of who he was but he did not like it when others looked at him condescendingly for what his biological parents did.  
However, Junmyeon was different from Jongdae in this respect. He was an idealist and optimist. He believed in equality of royals and commoners, equality of men and women. So of course he believed in equality among the princes of Angoratalamh irrespective of the status of their mothers. Thus, Jongdae knew it was futile to argue with Junmyeon on this.  
“No, I would not.” Before Junmyeon could reassure him that his illegitimacy does not matter, Jongdae continued. “Hear me out first. It’s not only because no Princess would receive the blessings to marry me but also because I do not want to be stuck among these hypocrite royals forever.”  
Jongdae could hear the screws rotating in Junmyeon’s head just from the frown growing on his face.  
“I know you think I am kidding whenever I ask you to run away from this palace with me but hyung I have been seriously thinking about it for a while. We don’t belong here and I can’t see us living this life forever. I think I am ready to give up this life and these people. I am only just waiting for you to come around. Because I am for sure not leaving you behind alone.”  
Junmyeon blankly stared at Jongdae trying to assimilate everything he heard. It was all too much to process at once and Jongdae understood that. He quietly sat there without expecting a response from Junmyeon. The silence ascertained Junmyeon about Jongdae’s seriousness on the matter.  
“Dae they are our family.” Junmyeon spoke fidgeting with his hands because the idea of leaving his parents and two brothers had still not hit home in his head.  
“Family is what always stands by you and not just as per convenience. So, no … they are not our family. They were never our family. And trust me we will be better off and happier without them.”  
Junmyeon stayed mum, lost in his own thoughts, and Jongdae could not make out what he was thinking from his expressions. After getting no response from Junmyeon for a while, Jongdae continued. “Hyung, I know this is not easy to consider, especially for you, but at least think about it. Do it for me if you can’t do it for yourself.”  
Junmyeon bowed his head feeling dejected. “What if I can never bring myself to leave? Will I be keeping you away from your happiness?”  
Jongdae petted Junmyeon’s shoulder reassuringly. “Not at all. You are my only family and I will always be happy with you, wherever we are.  
I just believe our lives will become so much easier once we give up on these people. I know you see things and people differently and optimistically but I am sure someday you will see ‘why I believe what I believe’. Until then just keep this thought in your mind. Don’t pressure yourself but just remember that giving up is a possibility.”  
Junmyeon bobbed his head several times while fluttering his eyes to keep the tears in his orbs from falling. All Jongdae could do was give an encouraging smile.  
After a while, Jongdae remembered their initial conversation and asked, “Are you ever going to tell me about the Oh siblings then?”  
“Oh yeah, I forgot about that. Since you are not a potential suitor, I think I can tell you about it. Princess Ji-Ah might be marrying one of the Princes of Angoratalamh.”  
“What?” Junmyeon recounted everything he had learned from his conversation with Sehun a few days ago and saying Jongdae was shocked out of his wits was an understatement.  
It took Jongdae a while to collect his wits. “Oh-kay. It’s hilarious how the king and the crown prince have been shitting their pants for the past several months over nothing.” Jongdae chuckled loudly, earning himself a grin from the elder. “Wouldn’t this improve the relations between the two kingdoms and ultimately prove to be a good thing for our kingdom?,” Jongdae pondered loudly.  
The grin on Junmyeon’s face grew wider. “That’s the first thing that came to my mind. If things turn out well maybe we can finally have a military and you will be appointed the military general. That would solidify your position in the running of this kingdom and make sure nobody ever patronizes your title.” Junmyeon’s eyes were shining with hope and how Jongdae wished that he did not have to be the one to crush the other’s illusions.  
“And who do you think would appoint me as the military general? The king? Or the crown prince Minseok?”  
“You are the most capable one for that job and Minseok hyung would never deny what you deserve.” Junmyeon’s smile fell a little but he held onto his faith in his eldest brother.  
Jongdae shook his head in exasperation. “No matter what I tell you, it will fall on deaf ears. Only time will make you believe in my words. But trust me, even when I will be proved right it will break my heart to see you feel let down.”  
“Or maybe the time will teach you to believe more in the goodness of people.” Junmyeon pointed out hopefully.  
“Anyways I still don’t understand why you have been mingling so much with the princess…. unless” Jongdae’s eyes widened as realization slowly struck him ”… you are meddling to ruin Prince Minseok’s chances of making the lucky groom to the princess.”  
“I am ruining no one’s chances. I am just making sure the princess gets to know all her choices well enough to be able to choose the one best for her,” came Junmyeon’s feisty retort. “If she does not take it upon herself to make the decision, the elders are surely going to choose Minseok hyung as he is the crown prince.”

***********************

Several days later  
Sehun was headed to the gates of the residential quarters with a determined mind. That is apparently where his sister and Junmyeon had planned to meet and that is where he was going to stop the man and his evil plans.  
He had overheard his sister, while she was getting ready to meet Junmyeon he assumed, talking about taking a tour to the maze garden in the palace. And if his deductions were correct she was going to be all alone with Junmyeon in a maze, of all places.  
So Sehun had reached the decision that it was time for him to apply brakes on Junmyeon’s advances towards his sister. Sehun could not deny that his decision was also slightly affected by a tinge of jealousy he had felt towards his sister, because Junmyeon had never offered to take him to the maze garden. But mostly it was because he was a responsible elder brother.  
As soon as the gates came into his view, Sehun could see his sister-like figure standing with a man. The man was standing with his back towards him but Sehun could make out that the two were standing in unbelievably close proximity .  
With rage taking over his senses, Sehun charged towards the two, shouting on the top of his voice. “Back-off Prince Junmyeon. How dare you?” The two people immediately jumped apart after hearing the startling loud and angry voice. By the time his sister’s face came into his clear view, the man standing beside her had also turned around to see the source of the sound. That’s when Sehun saw that the man was not Junmyeon. It was Jongin.  
“Prince Jongin! What are you doing here? What are you two doing together? And where is Junmyeon hyung?” Sehun spit out all the questions together, not allowing anyone anytime to answer any of the questions.  
“Are you sure it is Junmyeon hyung and not Prince Junmyeon for you?” Sehun was stumped on hearing Junmyeon’s voice from behind himself. All eyes turned to the small man who had just joined the group but his eyes were fixed on Sehun, sizing him up for his outburst just a few moments ago. “What did I dare do to offend the Prince of Caponterre?” All Sehun could do was gulp in response, still confused about Jongin’s presence beside his sister.

***************************

All four: Ji-Ah, Jongin, Junmyeon and Sehun, were headed for a tour to the maze garden together, a lot of awkwardness and uncertainty lingering in the air. Sehun had dismissed his weird behaviour earlier with his loose fumblings about him waking up on the wrong side of the bed in the morning, which Junmyeon did not buy at all. But Junmyeon let it go, deciding it better to be brought up later when he got a chance to be alone with the other.  
So, when it came to forming two teams who would compete to get out of the maze first, Junmyeon made sure Sehun and himself were a team. Sehun said nothing to oppose. And this worked better anyways as that allowed Ji-Ah and Jongin to spend some time by themselves.  
“So, what was that earlier?” Junmyeon did not beat around the bush and asked as soon as the two were by themselves inside the maze.  
Sehun had expected to give an explanation. So, taking in a deep breath, he started without the other having to ask a second time. “I am angry and disappointed with you.” A frown appeared between Junmyeon’s eyebrows. “You have been pursuing my sister for the last so many days.”  
“I have been what?”, Junmyeon asked in shock. However, Sehun ignored the reaction of the smaller man and continued. “And it’s not fair on my sister because she does not know that your sudden interest in her is rooted in your recently gained knowledge that our family is looking for suitors for her.”  
“Prince Sehun I think you have been misunderstanding something. I am not pursuing your sister.” Junmyeon tried to clarify as a matter of factly.  
“Then why have you been suddenly spending so much time with her these days? How will you explain the reason for paying so much attention to her?”  
“I am just trying to learn more about her as a person. If there is a possibility that she is going to become a part of my family, is it something wrong on my end to make an effort to form friendly relations with her.”  
“Just ‘friendly’ relations? Are you sure about that? Are you sure you are not courting her?” It was becoming hard for Sehun to contain his irritation at the other man’s, what he thought to be blatant lies.  
“I am doing no such thing?”  
“Sure!,” the disbelief was evident in Sehun’s tone. “Then what have you learned so far about her in your ‘friendship’? Even I am curious.”  
“That she is a mature and intelligent woman who is capable of making her own decisions.”  
“And she should decide for you to be her future spouse?”  
“No! Not at all. I am not sure if you are aware but she has certain aspirations about the kind of life partners she wants. And that she is capable of choosing the one best for her between Minseok hyung and Jongin. And whom she marries should be her own decision and not her family’s. So, I am just helping her in getting to know my brothers better.” Junmyeon tried to show his reasons to Sehun but it was turning out to be futile.  
“Why just Prince Minseok and Prince Jongin? Why not put yourself on the list of possible suitors too? Is that a new tactic of wooing women? Act like you are just a friend who wants to help them and then make them fall for you. Isn’t that it?” Sehun’s rage was exploding uncontrollably making him reach irrational conclusions.  
However, Junmyeon tried to keep his calm despite how hurt and wrongly accused he felt. “Prince Sehun, what are you even saying? Why would I do anything like that?”  
“Because marrying Ji-Ah is your last hope of getting in the line to the throne of Angoratalamh. This is all a huge plan that you have hatched only to ...”  
“I am gay. And your sister already knows that. If anything you are claiming is true, I don’t think telling your sister that I can never love a woman would be a good way to get her to marry me.” Junmyeon finally lost it when Sehun kept interpreting his sincere efforts to help into something done with ill-intentions.  
“What?” Sehun was obviously caught-off guard by what he learnt.  
“Yes, I am gay and I am out to my family, people around me and to your sister too.”  
“That’s… odd.” Sehun was not thinking much when those words left his lips.  
“What is odd?” Junmyeon suddenly became even more cautious of the other man’s reactions.  
“That… that.... What you just said, that is odd?”  
“You think I am odd because I am gay. You think I am some kind of freak?” It was the first time Sehun saw a hint of anger in the elder’s tone.  
“No… that’s not what I meant. That came out wrong.” Sehun tried to explain his slip in expressing himself. However, Junmyeon was not going to take it and started walking away from him. “Where are you going? Hyung!” Sehun tried to stop the other by getting a hold of his wrist when he would not stop on being called out.  
Junmyeon turned around. “Don’t call me hyung and don’t you dare touch me.” Junmyeon’s eyes and tone expressed a cold-type of aggressiveness Sehun had never expected to see from him. Sehun immediately let go of Junmyeon’s wrist.  
Junmyeon continued, coldness dripping from his words. “Prince Sehun, I will make sure that you never have to see a freak like me again but even if you ever see me again I would very much appreciate it if you ignore the presence of this odd man. And find your way out of this maze by yourself.”  
Sehun felt so ashamed of how badly he had hurt the elder that he did not even try to chase him and explain that he meant to call the latter’s ability to be truthful about his sexuality as offbeat but only in a good way. He never meant to call Junmyeon odd or a freak.

***********************

The only person Junmyeon could think of in his disoriented state was Jongdae. So he immediately seeked the man out in the other’s chamber. Jongdae knew something was extremely wrong as soon as he saw Junmyeon’s expressions.  
Junmyeon informed Jongdae once he had calmed down. “I came out to Prince Sehun and then exploded on him after he called me odd.”  
As soon as Junmyeon put his actions earlier into words, realization stuck him. “What if it’s all new to him and he does not understand homosexuality? I should not have exploded on him. I should have given him time to understand it and maybe help him familiarize with the concept.” Junmyeon was overcome by guilt after his realizations. And Jongdae was both angry and sad that his brother was again blaming himself for his warranted reactions.  
Jongdae quietly took his brother into an embrace and with a tone of finality to his words, assured the other, “No hyung, he deserved it”.  
The words made Junmyeon let out pitiful sobs that he had been trying to hold ever since the incident in the maze garden. “Why do I feel like I am back in the closet with every new person I meet? Why is it like coming out all over again? Why is it that if they understand me and my preferences that’s because they are great people and if they don’t I have to accept that they need time to acknowledge my sexuality.” Junmyeon expressed his helplessness.  
Jongdae did not know what to say in response because he agreed with every word that came out of his brother’s mouth. So he just repeated his assuring words. “You did nothing wrong hyung. Prince Sehun deserved to be rebuked.”

*********************

“Why has Ji-Ah been mingling so much with the Kim brothers lately?” Kyungsoo entered Sehun’s chamber while asking the question, not caring to send any kind of greeting to his brother. “I hope they don’t know the intentions behind our visit to their kingdom.”  
“Only Prince Junmyeon knows.” Sehun had no intentions of avoiding the question or answering untruthfully.  
“What? Why is it only now that I am hearing about it? This ruins our plans.” Kyungsoo sounded angry for being kept in the dark.  
“He promised not to tell anyone else.”  
“And you trusted him?”  
“Yes, I do trust him.” Sehun was already regretting not trusting his own impression of Junmyeon once. His thoughts had been filled only with Junmyeon and his feelings of guilt towards the man for the past two days.  
Kyungsoo was not aware of anything running in Sehun’s mind. He was only concerned about their secret getting revealed. “Anyways, even if only he knows, won’t he use it to his advantage?”  
“He won’t. And before you ask why, let me tell you that he is not into women and he is not one of those men who are willing to marry a woman just to avoid suspicions. He is out of the closet.” Sehun let everything out in a breath out of annoyance.  
Kyungsoo’s eyes went wide in shock. “Really? He told you that himself.” Sehun nodded. “I knew something was off about him. He looked so delicate that he had to be gay.”  
Kyungsoo could not have found a worse time to rub Sehun the wrong way. “And I am very macho so I cannot be gay.”  
“You cannot be gay because you are not gay.” Kyungsoo spoke such that the statement was not up for contest.  
“And you get to decide what I am and what I am not.” Sehun almost whispered and even though Kyungsoo had heard him fine, he pretended to not have.  
“Anyways, stay away from him. Hanging out with him is not good for you.”  
“That won’t be a problem.” Sadness laced Sehun’s tone. “Because when he told me about his sexuality, my reaction came out all wrong. And now he thinks I am a homophobic asshole and he doesn't even want to look at me, forget talking or hanging out with me.”  
“That’s good.” Kyungsoo sounded genuinely glad and Sehun became even more annoyed with the other. “And I am sure you reacted in the right way. It is not homophobia, it is being sensible.”  
“Of course you think my reaction was right. Afterall, I am finally turning into you.” Saying that Sehun got up and left his room.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Hope you enjoyed this update. A lot happened in this update and I thoroughly enjoyed writing it. I hope you enjoyed reading it just as much. One thing that bothered me while writing this chapter was that I used several terms like gay, homosexual and homophobia even when my brief research showed that these terms were not used in the 16th century, the era in which this story is supposed to be based. If this is bothering you too and if you know how to work around this, I would be glad to see some feedback and guidance on that. I will try to be back with the next update in a week. Let's hope that my plans work out fine.
> 
> Another Junmyeon update today, yay!!!!! He looked so squishy and absolutely adorable. It felt so good to see him healthy and surrounded by friends :D.


	10. Chapter 10

Jongdae found Junmyeon standing on the balcony with his back to him as soon as he entered the other’s chamber. His brother was lost in his own thoughts, looking at the starry night sky. He had noticed that Junmyeon had not been his cheery self for the past few days.  
Even though he empathized with the elder, he absolutely hated the lack of twinkle in the other’s eyes. He wanted to hurt the man responsible for it but he knew that’s not what Junmyeon would want him to do.

That did not mean he could do nothing. He stealthily creeped on his sibling, setting aside the bottle in his hand on the ground, and started tickling as soon as the latter was in his reach. Junmyeon jumped in surprise and tried to escape the tickling fingers but in vain. And that’s all that took for Jongdae to see Junmyeon giggly and happy even if that was going to be short lived.

“Dae! Please stop. I can’t breath.” Junmyeon begged, his voice squeaky and jumpy.

“Fine! Fine!” Jongdae relented. “So, busy much in your thoughts? You did not even notice me standing at your door for the last ten minutes.” Jongdae pouted intentionally for exaggeration.

“Why were you waiting at the door for ten minutes? You could have just come in. You never need permission to enter hyung’s room.” Junmyeon said, petting Jongdae’s shoulder affectionately.

“Do I not need permission to meddle in hyung’s business too and take care of whatever, or more like whoever, has been bugging him?”

“What’s that?” Junmyeon asked, pointing at the bottle lying next to Jongdae’s feet. It was obvious to Jongdae that the elder was trying to change the subject of their conversation and he let him do it.

“Oh this! It’s Na-Ra’s special home-made makgeolli. She said it’s only for you. But you can always choose to share.” Jongdae said suggestively. “She wanted to express her gratitude. Your medicine really helped with her grandmother’s knee pain.” Jongdae continued to share.

“I am glad I could help but she did not have to send me anything.” Junmyeon spoke sincerely. Despite saying that he accepted the bottle from Jongdae. “Should I get two glasses then?”

“Hell yeah! But we are not stopping until one of us is smashed.”

*****************************  
Junmyeon was not totally drunk but unlike his usual self, who would get more and more energetic and become more and more carefree with every glass of alcohol that entered his body, today he was becoming sadder and subdued. 

So, Jongdae gently took him in his embrace and spoke affectionately, “I know it is still hard to accept anyone’s hatred despite how much practice we have. So, let me remind you that what people like Prince Sehun think about you does not matter. Only the people who love you should matter and I love you hyung. And I think you are incredible as who you are and there is nothing you should regret about yourself.” 

Jongdae was hardly even tipsy and his coherence at expressing his thoughts reminded Junmyeon of his younger brother’s much better tolerance to alcohol. Despite his state, Junmyeon managed to slur, “I love you too… so much...”. 

Jongdae smiled to himself and helped Junmyeon lie down, posting the elder’s head on his lap. It did not take long for Junmyeon to doze off with the soothing sensations of fingers stroking his hair. After a long while, Jongdae carefully shifted Junmyeon’s head from his lap to a pillow and started heading out for his own chamber.

As soon as he reached the door, he felt some movement outside the chamber. It was unusual for servants to be lurking outside a prince’s chamber without permission until so late at night. So, he swiftly got out of the door to check if there really was someone or his intoxicated mind was just playing tricks on him. He saw no one. The corridor was devoid of any humanly presence. Or so it seemed at the first glance because after carefully watching his surroundings, Jongdae could swear there was someone hiding behind the massive ornamental vase.

Jongdae carefully went around the vase, making sure he does not get attacked unexpectedly. He could have never prepared himself to see the person that met his eyes, hiding to the best possible for someone so tall.

“You gotta be kidding me!” Jongdae exclaimed, anger simmering in his tone.

“Hello Prince Jongdae! How are you today… umm tonight?” Sehun tried acting normal but the other was clearly not buying it if his squinted eyes and frowning eyebrows were any indication. 

“Why don’t we cut the crap, Prince Sehun?” Jongdae stressed on the title aggressively and Sehun dropped his head to not have to look into the other’s rage-filled eyes. “Why not just tell me the reason why you were spying on hyung? Is this a part of some kind of ‘monitoring the gay’ process!”

“No... not at all.” Sehun assured with sincerity. “I was just checking if he was alright… just out of genuine concern.”

Jongdae’s brows drew further together. Then with irritation lacing a pretentiously sweet tone, he asked. “Dear Prince Sehun! How about I beat the shit out of you and then visit you in your chamber and express my concern over you being hurt?

You made him feel like a freak for his sexuality, then you go around ignoring him like he has herpes and then you come over to his chamber to express your fake concern. Prince Sehun, sorry to be rude but you are an asshole.”

Sehun kept staring at Jongdae unresponsively. “Get the hell out of here. Don’t test my patience,” Jongdae continued. Saying that much, Jongdae started walking in the other direction only to stop after a few steps when the other man started talking.

“I never meant to react that way on learning his sexuality. I was just taken aback by the fact that he could so openly acknowledge it. I don’t care whether he is straight or gay or anything in between. To me he is and will always be the same kind, understanding and down-to-earth person that I have come to respect and adore. 

I can’t tell you in words how ashamed I am of how my reaction came out all wrong and how hurt he must have been over the misunderstanding.”

Jongdae turned around to see Sehun with a guilt-ridden face. Despite feeling the sincerity in Sehun’s words, Jongdae was never one to melt so easily. “Really? Then why did you not just apologize to him? What’s with all that ignoring him?”

“He had told me to never interact with him again.”

“He must have told you that at least a thousand time ever since he met you but you never adhered to his requests before. But now all of a sudden you start listening to him and even go beyond his requests to simply ignore him?”

“I never ignored him.” Sehun defended himself.

“Yeah you did. Remember the other day when we had the tea party. Forget speaking with him, you didn't even spare him a glance all evening.” Jongdae reminded Sehun of the time two days ago when all the princes and the princess had gathered to spend the evening together.

“Do you remember seeing me talk to anybody that evening?” Before Jongdae could answer, Sehun answered for him and continued. “No you wouldn’t because I did not speak even a word that day. How could I! I was feeling so guilty and nervous around Junmyeon hyung. 

I have not been able to look at myself in the mirror ever since the day at the maze. How could I dare look at hyung when I have hurt him so much.”

“So you think avoiding him would make him hurt less?,” Jongdae asked in disbelief.

“No but at least if I stay away from him, he would not be constantly reminded of the hurtful incident.”

Jongdae let out an exasperated sigh. “Just say you are a coward who is scared of confronting his mistakes.”

“I am scared of hurting him further.”

“But you are hurting him by whatever you are doing. You are making him feel uncomfortable in his own skin whenever he is around you and also otherwise. Prince Sehun, hyung is someone who overthinks about other people’s words and actions and then let’s them affect him until he can justify them to his sensibility.

If you really want to put his mind at ease, just tell him how sorry you are and how you did not mean to react the way you did. Just genuinely tell him how you think about him and how it would not change irrespective of whether he is attracted to men or women.”

****************************  
Junmyeon felt someone was raining rocks on his head the first thing he gained consciousness the next morning. He cursed himself for drinking too much as soon as he moved his head and felt the first wave of nausea hitting him. Somehow he managed to get up from the bed and drag himself to the cupboard where he kept his medicinal supplies only to find out that he had none that could help his hangover. 

For better or for worse, he could not decide in his delirious state, he had given his word to help at the dispensary today despite his day off. So, he could get the ingredients for the medicinal tea at the dispensary only if he could manage to get himself to walk up there.

Groaning in every little while and struggling to keep his eyes open, he managed to get out of the residential quarter and walk some distance uneventfully. It was only after some time that he felt someone following him. 

He should have been bothered or worse scared of his secret of working at the dispensary getting out but his hangover made it impossible for him to be sensible enough to turn around and do something about it. In a corner of his mind he thought he could always justify going to the dispensary to get treatment for his hangover, which was not entirely false. 

Subconsciously thinking that Junmyeon reached his destination and mindlessly entered the room which was only meant for the dispensary’s physicians and apothecaries. He made himself a tea to cure his hangover and by the time he was back to his logical and rational self, he had pretty much forgotten about someone possibly following him earlier.

It was not until a very petrified looking assistant of the head physician came following him into the room. He came and stood uncharacteristically close and only after making sure no one could overhear them started talking. “Prince!” Junmyeon’s eyes went wide at being addressed by the title and did a double check to make sure that no one heard that. 

“Choi-ssi, you should not be addressing me like that here.” The head physician and his assistant were the only ones in the dispensary aware of Junmyeon’s princely status.

“I am sorry but I have been a little thrown off by the request of a patient. I came here to inform you that a member of the royalty has firmly expressed their desire to have you as their physician.” It was only then that the dread of his blunder from that morning creeped upon Junmyeon.

He quietly asked, trying to keep his fears at bay and get a better hold of the situation. “It is not the King or one of the princes, right?” The King would have ordered Junmyeon and not just requested for anything.

“No...not the King but… “ The man sounded uncertain and yet frightened. “It’s the man from last time.” Junmyeon did not immediately catch on to who the assistant was referring to. Not until the assistant elaborated. “The one who forcefully dragged you from here that one time. I suppose he should be a Prince of Angoratalamh.” 

“Prince Sehun?” Junmyeon guessed right away.

“I am sorry but I suppose yes.” Junmyeon let out a sigh of relief before his grey cells started working and he started wondering what could the younger prince possibly want from him, especially after all that that has transpired between them the last few days.

“What does Prince Sehun want?,” Junmyeon enquired, pondering more to himself than asking the other man.

“Prince Sehun says he is not feeling well and has particularly asked for you to be his doctor. Prince says he will let himself be examined only by you. I tried to sway him on that but he was very persistent about it. And I am kind of afraid of him after how he acted last time he was here. I am so sorry that your secret will get out because of me Prince Junmyeon.” The assistant sounded genuinely sad and apologetic, probably thinking he might never be able to see Junmyeon working among them again.

“Don’t worry Choi-ssi! Prince Sehun has already known for a while. So if he decides to tell everyone about it now, then it’s not your fault.” Junmyeon suddenly felt nervousness in his gut, thinking about how Sehun might reveal about him working at the dispensary now that he hated him for being gay.

“If he tells everyone about you, would you not be able to work here any longer?” It was heart-warming for Junmyeon to see the assistant on the verge of crying just thinking about the possibility. It helped Junmyeon to gather himself and become determined to deal with the situation the best he could.

“Choi-ssi can you please bring him to my examination room? And I will take care from thereon. I promise, I will try my best.” Junmyeon tried to assure the other, who nodded and went on to follow the orders somewhat reluctantly.

****************************  
“How can I help you Prince Sehun?” Junmyeon tried to sound calm and confident as he skipped formalities and got straight to the point as soon as Sehun entered the room.

Sehun was taken aback. He was expecting awkwardness or anger but never Junmyeon to be so plain-speaking. “I am not feeling well.”

“That’s a given if you are visiting a physician. Prince Sehun! You will have to tell me more for me to be able to treat you.” The pointedness had not left Junmyeon’s tone and it was making Sehun anxious.

“I am really sad these days. I hurt a friend unintentionally and have been apparently hurting him further by my actions.” A frown showed up on Junmyeon’s beautiful face and Sehun noticed it. Finally there was a crack in the wall that Junmyeon had put up between them.

Junmyeon cleared his throat and tried to speak in a tone of apathy. “I don’t think I can help you with that Prince Sehun.” However, Sehun saw through his feigned indifference.

“My friend shared something very personal with me.” Sehun started talking only to be interrupted by the elder. “How is that any of my business Prince Sehun?” But Sehun did not give up and continued saying what he wanted to share.

“I wanted to express my admiration and amazement for his act but instead I ended up making him feel unsuitable. I understand how my reaction could be misconstrued that way but I was a coward not to confront him and clear up the misunderstanding. 

I just thought giving up on our camaraderie is what he wanted and would be easier on him. But someone told me that it was only easier for me while it was hurting my friend more. 

I am not sure if it was easier on me either. Thinking about him, him being possibly sad because of me and how I should have said something different in that moment is all that has been on my mind these days. How could it be easier on me then! But if there is any chance that my ways are indeed hurting him more, I would like to tell him that…” 

Sehun finally gave up on playing pretend to say what he wanted to tell Junmyeon. “I am sorry hyung and I am grateful to have had a chance to meet and know someone like you and I would only feel lucky to be able to keep a friend like you forever.”

Sehun managed to make his sincerity reach Junmyeon and the older finally let his facade of being unaffected fall completely from his demeanor.

“Even though I am gay?” Junmyeon asked, too nervous to hear the response that he could feel himself holding breath.

“I have been trying to tell myself that your sexual orientation does not matter to me but…” And Junmyeon mentalley berated himself for hoping too much too soon. “if I have to be honest… how do I put this…” Sehun took a moment to contemplate. “After learning about it I am feeling this unexplainable pull towards you. I feel like you can bring me back to life. I feel like you are the elixir I needed that can save me from losing myself to the demons.”

“What?” Junmyeon squinted his eyes trying to understand the meaning behind the taller’s words. “Elixir? Demons? Did you hit your head somewhere hard?”

Sehun pursed his lips and let out a sigh because as much as he was disappointed that Junmyeon could not decipher his cryptic words, he was glad that he did not completely give himself away. “I guess all I am trying to say is I am glad to have a friend like you that inspires me to be an open-minded person and not turn into a conservative snob.”

With a slight pout and tears of relief threatening to escape his eyes, Junmyeon asked, “When did I ever agree to be your friend? It amazes how you don’t know the difference between an acquaintance and a friend. You should really look up words in the dictionary.” When Sehun saw the enticing sight of a small smile breaking out on Junmyeon’s face, he could feel his attraction towards the elder getting stronger.

**********************  
When Junmyeon left work that day in the afternoon, he did not expect to find Sehun sleeping under the shade of a tree nearby. It was an unlikely sight for a prince to be sleeping on the uneven ground but oddly satisfying for Junmyeon. It made the taller man seem approachable to him.

So, he carefully approached the man and poked him lightly on the shoulder. Sehun was a light sleeper, like a true warrior, and thus woke up with that little nudge.

“Hey!” Sehun greeted groggily, taken aback by Junmyeon’s ethereal appearance beside him. The rays from the sun were glistening against Junmyeon’s milky skin, making him look like an angel.

“Hey! Why are you still here? Sleeping like this?” Junmyeon asked, unaware of the other’s stupefied state.

“No… nothing… I was just… doing nothing… not sleeping… I...”

Junmyeon interrupted the other’s meaningless rambling. “Relax. It’s fine. In fact it’s fun sleeping outside like normal people. Were you waiting for me?”

Sehun finally managed to gather his ability to form coherent sentences. “Yeah! I was. I thought we could walk back together.”

“We could walk back together or…”

“Or?”

“It’s still not dark, we could stroll around in the palace.” Junmyeon suggested before another and better idea struck him. “Hey do you like mangoes?”

“Mangoes? Like them? Please! I love them.” Sehun’s eyes sparkled on just hearing the name of the fruit.

“Okay you are going to taste something even better then.” Junmyeon claimed confidently while taking a hold on the other’s hand and getting him to his feet. Sehun complied wordlessly.

“What can be better than mangoes?”

“Chilled mangoes.” Confusion shown on Sehun’s face. “Wait and you will see.”

*************************  
Junmyeon led Sehun in the opposite direction from the residential quarters. This part of the palace was unlike anything Sehun had seen thus far during his stay there. They walked past beautiful gardens and even crossed a small stream, which Junmyeon informed him was a man-made tributary of the river originating from the glaciers situated in the north end of their kingdom. Sehun correctly guessed the glaciers must not be too far from the location of the palace as the water was almost icy cold.

After walking a little further away from the stream, Junmyeon declared that they had reached their destination. That’s when Sehun noticed that they were in a mango plantation. He was almost getting excited on seeing so many mangoes around him before he realized that they were all hanging high up on the trees. 

“Are these trees usually so tall? How are we supposed to reach the mangoes?”

“Have you never seen a mango tree before?” When Sehun shook his head, Junmyeon continued. “They are of course tall. Can you climb trees?”

“Never done that before either. But you can climb on trees?” Sehun asked, fascinated.

“Of course not! What am I, a monkey?” Junmyeon answered nonchalantly.

“You think I am a monkey?” Sehun asked, taken aback. It had been a while since Sehun had seen this frivolous and sassy side of Junmyeon.

“I never said that.” Junmyeon retorted cheekily.

“Then why else would you ask me whether I could climb trees if only monkeys can do it?”

“First of all, I would never insult the monkeys by calling you one. Secondly, I don’t know, I thought you were trained to be a warrior. So, they must have taught you how to climb trees.”

Sehun rolled his eyes. “How are we going to get the mangoes?”

“Watch me!” Junmyeon spoke with confidence.

Junmyeon picked up a pebble and aimed at the stalk of a mango hanging on one of the highest branches of a nearby tree. To Sehun’s surprise, the mango actually broke from the branch and fell on the ground. In no time, Junmyeon managed to collect three more mangoes the same way. And then he turned around to look in the direction of a flabbergasted Sehun with an air of arrogance.

“That was kind of cool,” before Junmyeon could gloat on the praise, Sehun quickly added, “especially for a nerd like you.”

“Prince Sehun! I am not a nerd.” Junmyeon grumbled

“Please hyung you are the talking and walking definition of a nerd. And when are you going to give up on the titles with me?”  
Junmyeon ignored the question, silently starting to walk back in the direction they had come from. Sehun followed without any further questions on the matter.

“Did you make me walk all the way to get a few mangoes, which I am sure we could have just asked one of our servants to get for us?” Sehun asked when he realized they were already at the stream again. “Oh maybe you wanted to show off your skills to me.”

“Prince Sehun! Let me catch a break, will you? I told you we were going to have chilled mangoes so that’s what we will have.”

“What even are chilled mangoes?”

“Mangoes that have been chilled, like literally!”

“What? How?”

“Just watch and learn.” Saying that Junmyeon took out a big piece of cloth from his pocket and laid it down on the ground, put all the mangoes on it and tied its ends together. Then he walked over to the bank of the stream, bent over and dipped the bundle into the water. Sehun followed to take a closer look at what the elder was doing. 

Before Sehun could ask, Junmyeon explained himself. “The water in this stream is icy cold and would help cool the mangoes if I hold them like this for a while.”

“Oh I have never had mangoes like this.” 

Junmyeon was concentrating on the task at hand while Sehun kept looking between Junmyeon and the bundle in his hand. Sehun almost said out loud how Junmyeon looked cute with the pout on his lips but snapped out of his reverie when he realized he had been staring at the other’s lips for a while now. Tearing his eyes away, Sehun took a deep breath and immediately dipped his hand into the cold water to calm his suddenly heating up body.

Sehun had hardly managed to gain his composure when Junmyeon decided. “This should be enough. Let's eat them, shall we!”

“How will we eat them now? We don’t have a knife, neither forks nor bowls.”

“We eat them without a knife, fork and bowl then.” Junmyeon suggested.  
“No... no… you don’t mean we…”

“That’s exactly what I mean. What? Is Prince Sehun too high to eat a mango like normal people?”

“That’s not what I mean.”

“Then go on!” Junmyeon handed a mango from the bundle to Sehun.

Sehun hesitated but took the mango, only to keep staring at it for a while. “I don’t know exactly where to start.”

“I thought you have been to wars. Do you carry cutlery with you to the wars?” Junmyeon asked in disbelief.

“We don’t… The soldiers and horses carry them… but yes we take them with us… only for the King, princes and high ranking officers in the military.”

Junmyeon shook his head in disapproval. “Just follow as I do.” Junmyeon bit a chunk off from the top of the fruit and spit it out. Then he sucked on the mango, unintentionally letting out a moaning sound because of the amazingness that hit his taste buds. 

Junmyeon sucking and making sexual sounds was an unexpected sight for Sehun. The taller felt his cheeks warming up and heat pooling in his nether region just from the dirty thoughts running in his mind. Sehun closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths. 

It had been a while since Sehun had thought of Junmyeon in this light. It felt ages ago when he had learned of Junmyeon’s princely status and decided to keep his interest in the older like that at bay.

**************************  
Sehun finished three of the four mangoes in no time. The mangoes, to Sehun, tasted better than the ones he had had ever before. They tasted sweeter and juicier when eaten chilled and without conceding to any propriety. Though he could not deny that eating mangoes provided a good distraction from his concerning thoughts and he was partly stress eating.

Junmyeon, unaware of the other’s distressed state, was not very happy of being deprived of his share of the joy despite having put in all the effort. So, with a frown and pout gracing his serene face, he somberly asked Sehun. “Get me more mangoes.”

“Huh!... me?... “ Junmyeon nodded furiously. “But how will I…?”

“I showed you how!”

Unsure of himself, Sehun got to the task. He picked a pebble and flicked it at a branch but missed his target by a mile. He tried a few more times but failed miserably at every try. I could not even be said that he was getting better at every try. For someone trained to be an archer, he was embarrassingly abysmal at hitting his aims with pebbles.

Sehun was getting continuously more and more frustrated with every failure but Junmyeon was amused. He tried really hard to keep himself from smiling but eventually could not control himself and let out a hearty laugh. Sehun should have been annoyed but he was not. Nevertheless he whined, succeeding in getting Junmyeon to help him. 

The two together managed to collect several mangoes, deciding to take back some to share with their siblings. Then Junmyeon guided Sehun on how to hold the mangoes together in the stream without losing them to the flowing water. 

Despite Junmyeon’s directions, Sehun was struggling and a couple of mangoes escaped his hold. He tried to get a hold on those and in the process ended up in the water. 

The whole scene was so hilarious for Junmyeon that he had tears in his eyes from all the laughing. He could not stop until he was splashed with the icy cold water. The water fight that ensued between the two princes lasted for a while and it was not until later that evening that they got back to their quarters.

***************************  
Sehun found his sister in her chamber. To his surprise, Kyungsoo was also with her.

“Hyung! Ji-Ah! Great I found you two together. I got something for you two.” Sehun handed out a mango each to both of them, who took them with a questioning stare. “I got these from the mango plantations in the palace and let me tell you these are no ordinary mangoes.”

“They look like normal mangoes to me but are just a little cold for some reason.” Kyungsoo shared his observations and Ji-Ah nodded in agreement.

“Yes, we put them in the stream to make them cold. Before you ask me anything, you two need to try these and find out yourself how good they taste like this.”

“We? Who all does the ‘we’ include?” Kyungsoo asked with squinted eyes.

“I am excited to taste these. Should I ask a servant to get them chopped for us?” Ji-Ah was so excited that she talked over Kyungsoo, giving Sehun the levy to ignore Kyungsoo’s question despite having heard it clearly.

“No chopping. Eat them as they are.” The other prince and princess glared at Sehun in disbelief, as if he had suggested the two to murder someone. “Just try it. Trust me. It’s not some prank. I had these myself like that. And they definitely taste a lot better this way.”

Ji-Ah immediately conceded to Sehun’s advice and tried out the mango the way Sehun guided her to. Kyungsoo was unmoving and kept staring at Sehun while their sister devoured the mango and kept appreciating it.

“Sehun! Who were you with all day today?” Kyungsoo asked sternly when Sehun kept avoiding his eyes.

“Junmyeon hyung!” Sehun answered without meeting the elder’s stare.

*************************  
Junmyeon asked a guard on the door to Minseok’s chamber to inform his brother about his wish to see the older. The guard entered the chamber and came back in no time to tell him that Prince Minseok was waiting for him inside.

Junmyeon saw his brother settled on the sofa when he entered. Minseok greeted him with a huge smile and a little jibe. “So you finally remember to visit your brother.”

“I always have time to visit you, hyung. You are the one who is always busy.”

“It’s just my duties that keep me engaged…,” Minseok replied somewhat sadly. “... but I can always find time to hang out with my little brother.”

Junmyeon smiled. “Of course! We should hang out sometime soon.” Then continued while handing out what he was there to give. “I just came today to give you these mangoes. I went to the plantation and thought I will bring some back for my brothers.”

Minseok was elated to see the mangoes and immediately reached out to take the cooled delights. “Thank you Jun. Sit and have some with me.”

“I would love to hyung but I still have some more that I need to hand out while they are still cold.” 

“Are those for Jongin and Jongdae? I can ask the servants to take them to their chambers.”

“It’s okay hyung, I can do it myself. Why trouble the servants for something so trivial.” 

“That’s their job Jun. And come on it has been so long since we have had a meal together. The least you can do is eat a mango together with me.” Minseok insisted. “Unless you want to eat it with Jongdae instead of me. After all, you like doing things with him instead of me.” 

Junmyeon wanted to excuse himself but Minseok looked so beaten that he did not have the heart to refuse the older. So despite knowing that Jongdae was going to be furious with him for breaking their tradition of eating the mangoes together, he decided to stay and let the servants make the delivery.

“Now don’t be so sad and jealous, hyung. You know you look too adorable when you are like this for me to deny you anything.” The sparkle in Minseok’s eyes in that moment was worth everything for Junmyeon and he sat down to enjoy the treats.

“So, what have you been upto lately?” Minseok made small talk while they were eating.

“Nothing much… just the usual.” Junmyeon hesitated briefly before lying. He had so much to share about things on his work front, about Sehun and the happenings of the day but only if it was Jongdae, he would not have had to lie. 

Junmyeon loved Minseok and trusted him too but somehow he had never reached the point where he could open his heart to the other comfortably. 

“I hope that Prince from Caponterre is not causing you any trouble now.”

“No. He is not.” Junmyeon answered briefly and diverted the topic immediately. “How about you? What are you upto lately?”

“You know just supervising the preparations for the upcoming annual fair of Angoratalamh.”

“Oh yeah! That’s supposed to be coming up soon, right?” Minseok raised his brows on seeing Junmyeon’s excitement which reminded Junmyeon to keep his excitement in check in front of the older.

“Yes it is two weeks from now. So, I have been busy with supervising the stalls, finances and security for the event. As our royal guests would be visiting the event this year, we are planning to make it grander than ever before. Now I hope it goes as well as we have planned.”

“Of course it will because I know you will do a great job at organizing it. I am sure it will be the best the Oh’s have ever seen.” Junmyeon assured Minseok without missing a beat, to which Minseok responded with a grateful smile.

After an indecisive pause, Minseok asked the other in a grave tone, “Jun, can I ask you for a favour?”

“Of course hyung, anything.”

“You are aware how you cannot leave the premises of the palace even for this annual fair, right? This time the royals of Caponterre, especially the younger ones, may request you to visit it with them. Can you please decline their invitation?” 

Junmyeon was looking more and more solemn every minute the other continued. “Father would not be happy if you went out of the palace. If we would refuse our guests they might not like it. It would be better if you refuse their invitation to avoid any suspicions. I hope you understand.

I hate it that I have to ask you to do this. I hate it that you have never been to the grand fair all your life but I promise it won’t be like this forever.”

Junmyeon just nodded in agreement, tears threatening to drop from his eyes, not daring to say anything as he was sure the lump in his throat would prevent any sound. He understood why his brother was asking that of him but still his heart felt heavy with hurt.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Sorry for being MIA for literally ever. I have no excuse and nothing to blame except for my tardiness and lack of Junmyeon updates. I have accepted that I am addicted to that guy and his absence is affecting my productivity. I keep looking for his updates every other hour. I really listen to his songs every day. I had thought that it would be enough for me that other members are still active and now even Minseok is back ( which btw yay!) but it isn't. It just isn't T_T .
> 
> I hope you liked this update. It was long and I wanted so much to happen in this chapter that I hope I have not overwhelmed you as a reader. Or worse underwhelmed. Anyways I can't promise when I will be able to make the next update but I hope you will stick around for this story.


	11. Chapter 11

“Hyung! How would you like to spend the day together?” Sehun asked, not even yet fully inside Junmyeon’s chamber.

“Uhh… today? Why?” Junmyeon continued befuddled. “Shouldn’t you be heading for the fair?”

“No!” The response came instantly and a bit too loud.

“Why not?” Junmyeon questioned slowly.

“Just cause I don’t feel like it.”

“Ohkay! Why?” Before Sehun can explain, Junmyeon continued somewhat hurriedly. “Anyways, sorry but I would not be able to spend any time with you today.”

“Why?”

“Just cause I am busy.” Junmyeon lied pretty obviously.

“Doing what? As far as I know the dispensary is closed today.”

“None of your business.” Junmyeon defenses were up in an instant but went down as quickly on realizing the rudeness of his response.

“Excuse me!”

“Prince Sehun, why are you not going to the goddamn fair?” Junmyeon spoke almost pleadingly. ”I am sure it is going to be grand and a lot of fun.”

“Because you are not coming with us. I know you said you did not want to but I was not born yesterday. I know you are not going because the King of Angoratalamh ordered you not to. And I know you have never been allowed to be at one ever before either. So I am declining the invitation to the fair in solidarity. Who cares about some stupid fair anyways!”

The sincerity in Sehun’s words got to Junmyeon and he decided to be honest with the other. “I do… And that’s why I am going.”

Sehun’s eyes went wide. “What? You are going to the fair!”

“Shhh! Can you keep it down! It’s supposed to be a secret.”

Sehun asked again, quietly this time. “You are going to the fair? How?”

Junmyeon let out a deep sigh. “Fine I will tell you but you cannot tell anyone.” 

Sehun raised his brows. “Have I ever before.” 

Junmyeon let out another sigh before sharing the secret. “Substantial number of palace guards are going to be busy with ensuring smooth sailing at the fair and most of the personnel guards would be accompanying the members of the royal family to the fair. The palace staff would be going in and out of the palace all day to visit the fair. That would allow Dae and myself to sneak out of the palace in disguise, go to the fair and be back before anyone even suspects we were not here all day.”

“And that would work?” Junmyeon nodded in affirmation. “How can you be so sure of that?”

“Because we have done that before, many times might I add, and no one even got a whiff of it ever.”

“Wow! Sounds like we are going to have a lot of fun today.”

“We?” Junmyeon questioned, having suspicions about what was coming.

“Yeah! Prince Jongdae, you and me.”

“No no no no no… you are not in it with us.”

“Why not? I want to go to the fair too.” 

“Then go with the other princes and the princess.”

“I can’t.” Sehun pouted slightly.

“Why not?” Junmyeon sounded exasperated.

“Because I made quite a spectacle coming in your support while refusing to go to the fair without you. And joining them after all that would …. hurt my pride.”

“We can’t take you with us.” Junmyeon tried to reason, “That could jeopardize your security because one look at you would be a sure giveaway that you are a prince.”

“Okay first of all, I can take care of my security and more importantly I would not have to because no one will know that I am a prince. I would be in a disguise too.”

“Disguise won’t work for you.” 

“But you said it works for you.”

“That’s because I don’t give off the vibe of a prince. Do I need to remind you how you thought I was a servant the first time we met. On the other hand, every inch of your being screams royalty.”

“What are you saying? I can totally carry the ordinary man's look. In fact I can be more ordinary than the ordinary. Trust me on that!”

Junmyeon looked unsure and tried reasoning some more with Sehun. “Dae won’t agree to bring you with us.” 

“Why do you need his permission?”

“It’s nothing like that. Just the two of us go together to the fair every year and he would not be happy to change that.”

“Why do you care about how Prince Jongdae would feel anyways?”

“Well obviously because he is my brother.”

“Step-brother.” Sehun said assertively. He repeated himself with the same insistence when Junmyeon looked at him in confusion. “Prince Jongdae is just your step-brother.”

“He is my brother, period. Say otherwise one more time and I will break your nose.”

“Ooh feisty!” Sehun said after a dramatic pause. He continued, now with a teasing tone. “But you are so tiny that you won’t even reach my nose. And if you will somehow manage to reach it, your tiny fist won’t be able to hurt it.”

“First of all, I am not tiny and nor is my fist. But more importantly who said I will use my fist?”

Sehun chuckled loudly in disbelief over the other’s threats but in goodwill.

***************************

The two men quietly sneaked into the servants quarters, which were situated in the basement of the residential part of the palace. It was clearly not the first time for the shorter in there. He was confidently trudging through the way and well versed with the hiding spots along that way. On the other hand, the taller was a little thrown off by the filthy and crumbling state of his surroundings compared to his own chambers.

“I had never imagined our servants lived like this.” Sehun murmured, unable to contain his shock. “There are rats and bugs all over the place. Are these acceptable living conditions for the ordinary people?”

Junmyeon glared at Sehun. “They don’t choose to live like this. They are forced to live like this because of who they were born to. Instead of looking down on them for living like this we should be guilty for not giving them better living conditions.”

“I was not looking down on them, okay… I am just appalled. I have been to the war and how we lived then was not half as bad as this and that says a lot about how bad this is.” Junmyeon’s eyes softened and he just quietly put the end to their discussion. “Not the right time to talk about this.”

After a few minutes and walking past some 8-10 servant rooms, Junmyeon came to a standstill in front of one and pointed at the nameplate on it’s door. “I think this one should be it.” Sehun quickly nodded in agreement and the two slipped into the room after making sure no one was around or inside the room.

After a little search they got what they were there for: a pair of clothes that could fit Sehun and not make him look like the prince he was.

Before they went back the way they had come in, Sehun inquired. “Now that we are here, shouldn’t we pick some clothes for you as well? Maybe Prince Jongdae too?”

“Prince Sehun, you are enjoying stealing from these poor people, aren’t you?” Junmyeon teased subtly. However, Sehun had to look closely at the other to realize the other was just pulling his leg and all he could do was roll his eyes after heaving a sigh in response. “Jongdae must have already arranged for the two of us. Yours was a little spontaneous and we had no other choice. Now let’s get going unless you want to hear an earful from my dear brother.”

Saying that Junmyeon started walking back without waiting for a reply. But Sehun replied nevertheless, under his breath with a hint of jealousy in his words. “What is with the blind faith! And again you mean your ‘dear’ step brother.” Junmyeon was already too far to realize that anything was even said.

**************************  
After managing to run out of the servants quarters without drawing any unwanted attention, the two took a moment to breathe in relief before getting on with their plan to get to the fair. 

The plan was simple: Junmyeon, now with Sehun accompanying him, was supposed to get out of the residential part of the palace unnoticed and get to the back side of stables where Jongdae would be waiting with the clothes for the disguise and horses that would take them to the fair. Changing into the disguise within their chambers was a risky affair if anyone was to recognize them and find it suspicious. 

As soon as the gates came into their view, Sehun was the first to notice the large number of palace guards. And as they got closer Junmyeon instantly recognized the head of the guards accompanying other guards on the gate, closely watching movements of the people walking in and out of the residential quarters.

Junmyeon immediately stopped in his tracks, warning Sehun against his own going any further as the head guard knew who he was and him finding out about his slipping out of the palace to go to the fair would never fair well for anyone. That’s how the two ended up drawing away from the gates.

“So are we not going to the fair then?” Sehun asked while Junmyeon was looking around for something.

“I still don’t understand why you are doing all this to get to the fair. The guards would be glad to escort you to the fair safely.” Junmyeon answered absent-mindedly.

“Well as far as I understand, Prince Jongdae need not go out in a disguise either but you are okay with it when he does that. You only have problems with my doing the same.” That drew Junmyeon’s attention to the taller.

Junmyeon hesitated only for a moment. “Fine! Get on your knees.”

“Excuse me!”

“In fact get on all fours.” Junmyeon spoke authoritatively.

“What? Here?” Needless to say Sehun was rendered confused and almost scandalized with his interpretation of the meaning behind the words coming from Junmyeon’s mouth. And the former's expressions did nothing to hide his feelings.

“I don't know what you are thinking but I need your help to jump over this fencing wall. I need to stand on your back to reach the top of the wall.”

“Oh ok.” Sehun dropped to his knees and steadied his palms on the ground. But before Junmyeon could climb onto his back, he asked “Wait! how will I jump over the wall? I am not tall enough to reach its top without help either”.

“Umm… as far as I remember you don’t need to jump the wall. You know you can just walk out through the gates and no one will question you.”

“Right! Top me then.” It didn’t sound right to Sehun himself. “I mean...” It was the first time for Junmyeon to see Sehun turn a deep shade of red.

****************************  
“Now what is he doing here?” Jongdae shot the question as soon as he saw the entitled prince walking beside his brother.

Junmyeon briefly recounted his conversation with Sehun from earlier. He did not like how quiet Jongdae was for several moments, clearly thinking something to himself.

“So when you say a spectacle, what did you exactly do?” Jongdae directed the question to Sehun.

Sehun nervously glanced at Junmyeon briefly and then answered, evidently avoiding any further eye contact with Junmyeon. “I might have berated Prince Minseok.” Junmyeon’s eyes went wide and a smile threatened to break out on Jongdae’s lips.

Jongdae asked seriously. “Did a lot of people witness that?” Junmyeon snapped his head towards Jongdae.

“Yeah!” Sehun answered more nervously than before but rattled off his explanation for the actions in question. “I can’t explain why but he gets under my skin by his mere presence. And when he said that Junmyeon hyung did not want to accompany us, I could bet on my soul that he was covering up the King’s wishes with lies. That pissed me off so much.”

“Well done! Prince Minseok deserved it.” Jongdae said matter of factly with a huge genuine smile gracing his features. Sehun was taken aback for a moment but he quickly recovered with a smile and looked over at Junmyeon, mouthing words ‘See, I am not the only one who dislikes Prince Minseok.’

Jongdae continued accusingly “Did you know Prince Minseok was in fact the one who ‘requested’ hyung to deny going to the fair so the King could keep his face?”

“Really! My gut was right all along to not like him. Yeah we started on the wrong foot but there was always more to it. But whenever I express my dislike to him, he reprimands me saying…” Sehun pointed at Junmyeon.

“‘We are brothers and should not badmouth our brother.’ He tells me that all the time.” Jongdae completed the sentence for Sehun.

“Uhh I hate him when he says anything along those lines to take Prince Minseok’s side.”

“Me too! It infuriates me so much that I want to beat myself up sometimes.” Jongdae could not agree anymore with the other man over Junmyeon. 

“Gentlemen I am right here.” Junmyeon reminded the two of his presence. However, the other two completely ignored it and continued their bitching of the eldest Kim sibling.

“That Prince Minseok is awful. The guy is an authority pleaser. Would do anything to suck up to the King so much so as sacrifice his own innocent brother.” 

“I would not doubt that for a moment. He is the worst. I should give him a harder time while I am here,” Sehun said with determination.

“Do it. You have my blessings.”

“What’s going on? Are you two bonding over slandering poor Minseok hyung?” Junmyeon shouted out, finally getting the other two to regard his presence.

“We are bonding over how much of an idiot someone we both care about is to let Prince Minseok walk all over him.” Sehun retorted without giving it a second thought. Junmyeon furrowed his brows while Jongdae stared at Sehun judgmentally before announcing.

“Let’s get you to the fair then, shall we?”

**************************  
The three men picked a corner each in the stable to change into their guising clothes. Sehun was excited to be able to visit the fair with Junmyeon. More so he was exhilarated by the thought of spending the day as a commoner and without the constant presence of his servants and guards. Sehun was buzzing with energy and got ready in no time. As soon as he was done, he sorted out Junmyeon only to find him changing his upper garment.

It should have been expected but Sehun was fascinated by how milky and smooth was the other’s currently very naked torso. The stable was not well illuminated and in the absence of light the older's skin was glowing. 

Sehun suddenly got hot all over. He felt the desire to glide his fingers over that smooth silky skin growing and taking over his senses. He was curious to learn how soft it would feel under his palm.

As much as Sehun was frustrated, he was also glad when Junmyeon put on his top before he could lose all control over his carnal desires and did something irreversible. Yet the rawness of his want for the older in that moment was unsettling and was going to haunt him for a long time to come.

When Junmyeon was finished, he looked up to find Sehun staring at him and Jongdae walking over to their side. There was something about the way Sehun was looking at him that drew Junmyeon in.

When Sehun noticed Junmyeon looking at him staring at himself, he did not divert his eyes. He should have but he could not. The lingering eye contact between them did not break until Jongdae reached them and announced that they should get going, essentially pulling them out of their trance. Jongdae did not miss how Junmyeon was blushing and Sehun’s ‘yes’ came out unusually raspy and deep. 

************************  
There was only one problem left to be dealt with: Jongdae had arranged only for two horses and there were three men needing rides to the fair. The stable was devoid of any rideable horses as all the good horses were already taken by the guards.

“We can double ride on a horse. Junmyeon hyung, I think it would be best if you double ride. How about we ride the horse together?” Sehun suggested, hoping to dissolve any tension between them with his feigned casualness.

“Umm okay.” Junmyeon was still flustered about what had happened earlier.

“I can ride in the front and you can sit behind me.” Sehun said it like it was the most normal thing to ask of the other.

“Wait! What? Why would you ride while I sit in the back? Shouldn’t it be the other way round. You were late to join us and so you should be the one riding the horse sitting behind me.” And there was the feisty Junmyeon back in a flash.

“But you are the tiny one and I am the better rider.” Sehun said it like it was the cosmic truth.

“Again I am not tiny and your claims of being the better rider are debatable.” Junmyeon retorted.

“Okay. Fine, you ride in the front then. When both of us end up getting thrown off by the horse, there won’t be anything left to debate.” Sehun agreed reluctantly but not without putting forth his doubts.

“Then make sure not to clamp your legs on the horse’s flank and we should be good.” 

“Okay!”

“Okay then.”

Jongdae witnessed the entire exchange quietly. He wanted to suggest a better way for sharing rides but failed to interrupt the back and forth between Sehun and Junmyeon. So, he let things unfold without his intervention. At least not until the tension between the other two became unpalatable for him.

Jongdae and Junmyeon mounted a horse each first, followed by Sehun climbing behind Junmyeon. Since Sehun had always rid a horse alone ever since he could remember riding one, he was not anticipating the challenges coming his way. 

There was nothing for him to hold and keep his balance. When he tried to hold the back end of the saddle, the already jumpy horse started acting up. Fearing being thrown off, Sehun quickly retrieved his hand before Junmyeon reprimanded him. “Prince Sehun, what are you doing? Why are you making the poor horse uncomfortable?”

“I am sorry but I needed something to hold onto. Or I will lose balance.”

“Tsk...hold onto the saddle.”

“That’s what I did before this horse started acting up.”

“Where did you hold the saddle?”

“At the very back end.”

“Try the part of the saddle between us.”

“There is nothing to hold here. It is as smooth as velvet.”

“Hold onto me then.” Junmyeon said, running out of patience.

That’s the first moment Sehun became aware of the close proximity between their bodies. He became conscious of the musky smell filling his senses and silky black hair in his view. He was suddenly mindful that he had to just slightly dip his head for his lips to come in contact with the patch of bare skin on other’s nape. And suddenly whether it would be as smooth and warm as it looks is all Sehun could think of. His mind went to all the inappropriate places.

When Sehun had stalled for a while, being lost in his own head, Junmyeon finally turned around, as much as he could on a horse, to see what Sehun was upto. And despite the angle at which he checked on the other, he was certain that the other’s eyes were unfocused and he was daydreaming.

“To earth Prince Sehun!” Junmyeon’s voice pulled Sehun out of his trance. “What is your highness waiting for?,” Junmyeon said tauntingly but Sehun was too lost to realize. 

Sehun gulped and closed his eyes for a split second to gather himself. He took a few deep breaths and prepared himself for the moment when he would feel his arms around the lithe waist of his Junmyeon hyung. He knew the moment was going to be consequential.

Junmyeon finally felt the other’s unsure hands sneaking around his waist. Even though it was an expected action, it knocked all the air from his lungs. His thoughts were muddled but when Junmyeon would think about his reaction later, he would realize it was because that the touch held a thought. There was some meaning behind that gentle but electric touch, figuring out what that meaning was would keep him up over nights to come.

Jongdae was a silent but observant witness to the happenings between the other two men. And seeing how the two had turned into unmoving ghosts, he spoke up.

“Junmyeon hyung, you are riding with me. Prince Sehun, get off the horse without making me say it again.”

That’s how the three got to the fair with Junmyeon and Jongdae double riding a horse. And Sehun squinting his eyes everytime Jongdae's arms holding Junmyeon came into his line of sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTES: Hello there! Let me start by just putting it here JUNMYEON (and Sehun too but sorry Sehun) ON BUSTED S3!!! YAYYYYY!!!!! The man who seems to have disappeared from the face of the earth will be on my laptop screen in a few days *scary but teary grin*.
> 
> Ohh and HAPPY NEW YEAR. Also in this new year I have found a new motivation: Junmyeon will be back next year. I know it is still too long of a wait but I see a finish line that starts with 'next' and not 'next-to-next'. I don't know if I am making any sense to you but hopefully this chapter made sense. It consisted of a lot of little moments that might seem insignificant but I was screaming in excitement in my head all along. So I hope you enjoyed this update as much as I enjoyed writing it.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fiction. The author has no intention to hurt the sentiments of any religious community. The work mentions homophobic tendencies of a set of characters that happen to follow a certain religion. Those people are not the definition of religion. Moreover their beliefs or wrong practices should not be justified or attributed to their religion.

The three men reached the village nearest to the grounds where the fair was happening, without drawing much attention to themselves, which was a feat in itself. Tying their horses in the wilderness on the outskirts of the settlement, they made the rest of the journey on foot. 

Jongdae, while leading the way, briefly explained to the newcomer to their escapade that they were headed to the home of the woman he was courting, who lived in that village, so that they could all visit the fair together. However, it did not take much for Junmyeon to realize that the man’s attention was more on his surroundings rather than the words directed towards him.

“Prince Sehun!” Junmyeon tried once quietly, afraid of being overheard calling the other with his title. He tried a little louder the second time. When he got no response, he bumped his shoulder into the man walking beside him.

“Woah! Hyung! What happened?” a startled Sehun shouted.

“Did you hear what just Jongdae said?” Junmyeon whispered and Sehun looked guilty for a second.

“Anything important?”

“What were you thinking? A penny for your thought!” Junmyeon inquired about the other for a change.

“Nothing just…” Sehun checked that Jongdae had gotten far ahead of them, so he hesitated but when he saw Junmyeon looking at him expectantly, he did not give a second thought before opening up. “...while travelling here today there were no guards with me for the first time ever since I can remember and I experienced my surroundings like never before. 

The calming sound of the flowing river, the harmony of the birds chirping, the relief from the sun that a canopy of trees provides, the gush of wind you feel while riding a horse, the luscious smell of the gardenias, the delightful green of the meadows, the warmness spreading in my heart on seeing a father teaching his son fishing. I experienced my surroundings with all my senses for the first time. 

And it hit me there is so much I miss when hundreds of people are buzzing around me. It feels like I have never truly been able to take in the little beauties spread all around me. It’s… unfortunate.”

“It is!” Junmyeon agreed quietly. 

“It makes me wonder if I really need all those guards and help around me all the time. Would it be so bad to get some space every once in a while?” Sehun shared further.

“Some people would say it is the price of the title that otherwise bestows you with all the wonderful luxuries in life.” Junmyeon spoke, agreeing little with his own words.

“But you don’t agree with those people! Do you?”

Junmyeon thought for a while before expressing his opinion. “Honestly, I don’t agree with them. I think the royalty surrounds itself with so many people not just for security and help but to guard themselves. To guard themselves from the awful realities. Because the truth remains that despite all its beauty, the world has its ugliness and misery. And the royalty who can really bring about a change, choose to use those resources to live a more lavish life than help other living beings.”

Sehun chuckled out of the blue. “What’s so funny?,” Junmyeon asked a bit defensively.

“For someone so delicate and tiny, you are a man with strong opinions.”

“I am not delicate and I am not tiny.” Junmyeon did little to hide his irritation from repeating himself for the nth time.

“If you say so, hyung. But you can’t deny you are definitely cute though. And you look sexy when you display your wisdom.”

Junmyeon was taken aback by the sudden forward compliment for a moment but he regained his wit in no time. “I wish I could return the compliment Prince Sehun.” Sehun simply chuckled again before adding, “I am really excited for today.” Junmyeon could not help but smile, reflecting the excitement of the taller.. And with that they started walking faster to catch up with Jongdae. 

***************************  
Sehun snickered and Junmyeon hardly held himself back from doing the same. Na-Ra did not seem to notice either the annoyance of his boyfriend or the amusement of the other two men. She obliviously and blissfully continued looking for ribbons that would match her different dresses, occasionally asking Jongdae for his opinion but mostly making him hold the ribbons she could potentially buy. 

When her boyfriend’s hands were full Na-Ra draped a couple over his shoulder and when even that was not enough, she casually asked Sehun to hold some for her. Sehun was taken aback, to say the least, at the atypical request but quietly conceded, much to Junmyeon’s surprise and Jongdae’s delight at no longer being the sole subject of his royal companions’ mockery.

After spending over an hour at the ribbon stall and using Jongdae and Sehun as her ribbon-holders, Na-Ra seemed extremely satisfied with her purchase of 3 ribbons, much to the annoyance of Jongdae and Sehun. It seemed like Na-Ra already had the day ahead planned because she got into the stall selling bed covers next and stated how she absolutely had to buy a few. 

It must have already been a couple hours of her visiting between stalls and the three men quietly but not quite willingly following her. While Jongdae was only shooting daggers at his romantic interest with his stare, Sehun was grumbling under his breath. The two men were convinced that either Junmyeon was a saint or just too glad to not have been included in the lady’s chagrins beyond the minimum to express his displeasure.

“I can’t believe this woman’s nerves.” Sehun started as soon as they were out of the earshot of the lovebirds. He had been waiting for the opportunity to complain to Junmyeon

“Why? What did she do? Just buy a few things.”

“Are you kidding me! She is making three princes dance to her tunes. She is making us follow her all around the fair and getting the two of those to carry her stuff no less.” Even though Junmyeon was willing to lend a hand each time, Na-Ra had insisted every time that the dongsaengs carried the things. So mostly Jongdae and Sehun were the ones carrying all her procurements for her.

“Oh that’s because she does not know that we are princes. You really were not hearing what Jongdae told you earlier.” Junmyeon stated simply. Sehun squinted his eyes in suspicion.

“Isn’t Jongdae courting her?” Junmyeon nodded. “Then why does not she know who he is? Isn’t this deceiving? Is he going to take advantage of her or something?”

“No way! Jongdae is not that kind of a man. It’s just that... Jongdae has not told her about his family because... he does not consider them a family. All she knows is that I am Jongdae’s brother and that’s all Jongdae has for a family.

Jongdae wishes to abandon his title and start a new life as a common man in the future. He does not want Na-Ra to build up any expectations that do not adhere to those plans. He wants Na-Ra to know the man that he would become instead of who he is.” 

Sehun had never heard anything like this before. It was too much to process for him. Too much to know in a moment that abandoning one’s title and family was a possibility.

*****************************  
“Hyung!… Sehun-ssi! Gentlemen keep up.” Jongdae shouted to get Junmyeon and Sehun’s attention. They seemed to have stopped in the middle of nowhere and were doing nothing really. 

“Prince Sehun.” Junmyeon called the man out who had suddenly come to a standstill following their brief conversation. “Prince Sehun,“ Junmyeon repeated this time shaking the man by his arm. 

“Yeah!” Junmyeon raised his brows questioningly. “I was just thinking about how the day is going different from what I had expected.”

“What do you mean?” Sehun took a moment to gather his thoughts and decided to delay his ponderings of more serious things for later.

“This! What else! I did not think we would be third and fourth wheeling a couple at a fair.”

Junmyeon sighed. “What else can we do? Unless you are suggesting we ditch the two.”

“I am not suggesting you did!” When Junmyeon squinted his eyes, picking on the ideas in other’s mind, Sehun resorted to pleading. “Please hyung.”

“But Jongdae and I always visit the fair together. How can I just go about myself this year?”

“Please! Pretty please.” Sehun was full on whining now and Junmyeon could not find it in himself to refuse.

Junmyeon let out an exasperated sigh. “Fine! Things you make me do Prince Sehun.” The childish grin on Sehun’s face made him look innocent.

As soon as the two men reached the point where Jongdae was waiting for them, Jongdae quietly asked the eldest. “What is going on between you two today?”

“Nothing, he just wants to spend his time differently at the fair.”

“I am sure all of us do. I am sorry hyung.” Jongdae supplied in a beat. Now that was not something Junmyeon was expecting or wanting to hear. But before Junmyeon could interrupt, Jongdae continued. “No let me finish. Asking Na-Ra to accompany us was a bad idea. I broke our tradition despite knowing how much this day means to you and me. 

She hinted that she wanted to go to the fair with me and I should have denied but I didn't know how to without giving her reasons and telling her who we really are. So, I just asked her to come along with us. I did not know she would hijack the day like this. Should I just tell her to go separate ways now? We still have the majority of the day that we can spend how we please here.” 

“Dae that would hurt her more than if you had denied going together in the first place. And don’t you see she just wants to do things with you that normal couples do. I think she really likes you and I know you like her back just as much. So, don’t ruin it.”

“But our tradition?”

“We can come up with new traditions or we can make her a part of our traditions but I don’t think now is a good time. Spend the day with her well, okay. We will leave you two to yourself. 

And Dae she is a great girl. From your anecdotes I knew she was hardworking but today I saw for myself that she is an upright woman.” Junmyeon had offered to pay for Na-Ra’s purchases on several occasions as the eldest in the group but she had politely declined his offerings. “She would make an excellent life partner for you. She seems to be someone who can keep herself unaffected from the charms of a royal life. I guess what I am trying to say is don’t mess up.” 

Jongdae smiled at his hyung's encouragement of his relationship with Na-Ra. “Okay I will try. So, are you going to spend the day with Prince Sehun?” Junmyeon just shrugged in response. “Be careful. He is being weird today. He is always weird but today it’s extra.”

“Give him a break. He has just stepped into an unknown territory and he is coping.” Jongdae chuckled before repeating himself. “Still be careful.”

After that Junmyeon and Sehun took their departure from the group, leaving the couple alone. Sehun smirked wide while dumping all that he was carrying on Jongdae. And Junmyeon bid his hearty adieu to the lady, who in return invited him to pay her a visit sometime soon. 

Jongdae was pleasantly surprised how Na-Ra did not hold back in expressing her genuine affections, he could tell they were genuine, for his brother despite how little she knew him. But generally it did not take much for people to see the good person that Junmyeon was and grow fond of him. And it was not completely uninitiated either. Junmyeon had after all helped treat Na-Ra’s grandmother.

**************************  
“I am so hungry. Hyung, let’s get something to eat first.” Junmyeon agreed at once. The two men scouted for stalls selling street food solely on Junmyeon’s insistence. 

Sehun had never eaten anything such, in fact he had never eaten anything not cooked by the cooks in a palace kitchen period. Even when he was in wars, some cooks from their palace would always accompany them. 

So the flavors and many of the foods they ate were new to him. Even the dishes he had had before tasted completely different but he was definitely not complaining. Even though they did not taste as refined as what the cooks in their palace made, they tasted better somehow.

Junmyeon was simply enjoying the foods he got to have so rarely while seeing Sehun liking them just as much. In that moment Junmyeon decided that Sehun was at least not a snoot unlike his two brothers, Minseok and Jongin, when it came to appreciating the merriments of the common people. 

And that somehow made Junmyeon feel better about letting Sehun become a part of his life. It was time to admit that even though the man had coerced his way into his life in the beginning, Sehun had now become a cherished acquaintance. Junmyeon would still not go as far as thinking of him as a friend but against Junmyeon’s judgement that was to change today.  
**********************  
The two men wandered aimlessly for hours in the fair without feeling bored for even a moment. There was so much to just standby, blend in the public and enjoy: a painter bringing his subject to life on a canvas; a group of men and women performing acrobatics, walking on tightropes, showing the abilities of their trained animals; a group of folk singers and dancers; a magician showing his tricks amongst many others.

The two even rode on a huge wheel-like thing being rotated by four large strong men, a seemingly popular attraction at the fair referred to as ‘up-and-downs’. As they were not princes with watchful eyes monitoring their every move at the moment, they could shout at the top of their voices every time the ride swept them upwards and brought them back down at great speeds. 

It must have been late in the afternoon when the two came by a stall that had a bracelet on display. The bracelet was not studded with expensive stones or anything but it caught Junmyeon’s attention. It was clearly an antiquity and definitely well taken care of. Junmyeon abruptly halted in his spot, curious about the piece of ornament. It occurred to him that it would look good on his mother.

“Ajhussi, is this bracelet for selling?,” Junmyeon enquired. 

“No way! It is a family heirloom. You can’t just buy it. You need to win it.”

“Oh! Okay. Sorry for bothering.” Junmyeon was about to bow his head and take his leave, when Sehun came to stand by his side and enquired further. “And how can one win it?”

The man pointed towards a target painted on a tree at least 20 feet away. “Bet 20 coins. And if you manage to hit the arrows on the centre point consecutively five times with a bow, the 20 coins and the bracelet is yours. Else you lose your 20 coins and might I add your pride too.” The man finished his explanation with an arrogance that only flared up the competitive side of Sehun.

“Lose my pride? Huh? Never in a million years! We will bet 20 coins.” Sehun agreed to the challenge confidently and Junmyeon’s eyes went wide. He politely tried to stop Sehun. “Prince Sehun! Let’s not get into that.” Junmyeon murmured close to Sehun’s ear.

“Why not hyung? You wanted that bracelet and I will win it for you.”

“I don’t want it anymore. Let’s get going.” With that being said, Junmyeon tried to pull Sehun away from the stall. But right then the owner of the stall spoke up, “Yes kid! Listen to your hyung and save your 20 coins and your face.” 

The owner little knew what he had brought onto himself. Sehun was trained in using bows and completing the challenge was going to be a piece of cake for him. And Junmyeon was aware of that and hence worried that the owner would end up losing a precious family heirloom.

Sehun counted 20 coins from his money sack and almost threw them in the direction of the owner. He took the bow and arrow that was offered to him and took his first aim. Junmyeon did not have to see to know that Sehun hit the bullseye with his very first arrow. The colors fading from the owner’s face were enough to tell him of that.

Sehun easily succeeded on his second hit, third hit and by the time he was done with his fourth hit, Junmyeon was convinced that the stall owner was going to get a heart attack. So, he did the only thing he could do in the situation.

Just when Sehun was about to let go off the fifth arrow from his bow, Junmyeon bumped into his side to perturb the direction of the arrow so that it missed the target. The owner let out the breath he was holding and Sehun grumbled indignantly. “Hyung! What the hell?”

“Sorry I lost my footing.”

“No ways! You did that intentionally so that I don’t win.”

“Now why would I do that?”

“I don’t know. This is unfair. I deserve another try.”

“Sorry mister but you lost by the rules of the game.” The owner supplied rapidly.

“Fine, take another 20 coins but I will play again.” Sehun was not going to back down. Just as he was about to pull another set of coins from his sack, Junmyeon took his hand to stop him. Junmyeon grasped the younger’s hand in both his hands, stared straight into his eyes and almost pleadingly asked of him, “It is his heirloom. Please don’t take it away from him.”

How could Sehun deny those serene deep yet soft black eyes anything in the world? How could Sehun not be convinced by the gentle yet firm hold on his hands? How could Sehun not be affected by the proximity of their bodies? Sehun could do none. So, he let himself be dragged away from the stall with the elder’s fingers intertwined with his. And it is worth adding that he quite blissfully let that happen.

After a while, Sehun suddenly pulled on the hand dragging him away to bring him to a stop. Junmyeon turned around to look at the other. The younger had a suggestive smirk on his face and Junmyeon immediately let go of his hand.

“Sorry.” Junmyeon was the first to speak to break the awkwardness he was feeling.

“He should not be betting on something he does not intend to part with.”

“He only used it to attract people to the game and be able to earn money. How was he to know that a trained warrior would show up at his stall.” Junmyeon had a pout on his lips which was very distracting for a conversation.

“I did not know any better once he called me a kid and challenged my pride. I am sorry too. We’re good, right?”

“Of course.” Junmyeon spoke with a smile.

“Good then let’s get ourselves some bracelets, shall we?” Sehun pointed at a nearby stall selling hand-knitted accessories. They were nothing fancy but still Sehun’s thoughtfulness filled Junmyeon’s heart with warmth and his stomach with fluttering butterflies.

Junmyeon could have pointed out that he did not want the one earlier for himself but instead he nodded excitedly. This time Sehun took his hand to lead him to the stall, ignoring the shock showing on his face.

“Want to get matching bracelets, hyung?” Sehun suggested while they were looking through bracelets of different colors and different knitting patterns.

“Huh?” Junmyeon heard it alright the first time but there was a teasing edge to his tone.

“Nevermind.” Sehun said, a little embarrassed.

“I was just kidding. We can get matching bracelets.” Junmyeon chuckled at the blush spreading on Sehun’s cheeks.

**********************  
It was late in the evening and the sun was about to set soon when Junmyeon and Sehun left the fair and proceeded towards the patch of forest where they had tied their horses in the morning. Before parting from Jongdae, they had decided to meet the man at the spot and go back to the palace together. 

Jongdae had clearly instructed them on the directions to reach the spot as Sehun was incognizant of the paths in the kingdom and Junmyeon hardly knew any ways around the kingdom. So the two diligently started following the instructions that were given to them.

Sehun initiated the conversation while they were walking in the orange hues of the setting sun, their matching bracelets tied tightly around their wrists. “I had a great day today. Thank you for spending it with me.”

“No thank you for joining us. Else I would have been alone in third wheeling Jongdae and Na-Ra.” The two shared a hearty chuckle while remembering the happenings of the morning. 

Junmyeon added after a few moments of silence, “I am glad you ended up enjoying the day after all. You seemed very distracted earlier in the day.”

Sehun was momentarily surprised at the elder’s perceptiveness. Junmyeon was not expecting a reply but Sehun shared his thoughts somewhat cryptically anyways. “I just learned so many things about the world and myself today. Maybe a little too much for a day if you ask me. I was just overwhelmed.”

“I am curious what had Prince Sehun so much overwhelmed?”

“You know just how much fun just going up and down on a wheel can be. How good even the cheap street food can taste.... How different the world looks without my guards and servants.” Sehun added seriously. Junmyeon nodded understandingly, not expecting Sehun to go any further but the other did. “How simple things can bring me so much joy and how I don’t need to be a prince to be happy. How I can abandon my title and my family, it is a possibility.”

Junmyeon was taken aback by how gravely the last few things came out of Sehun. He turned his head to look at the man walking beside him. Sehun had a serious look on his face, his eyes were flooding with some emotion that Junmyeon could not place.

Junmyeon did not why but he felt the need to say what he said next. “You can doesn't mean you should. Instead of thinking of family as an entity, you should think about how your absence will affect and hurt each member individually to realize that it is not really a possibility. Running away from your loved ones can never be a possibility. It can never be a solution to any problem within the family.”

Sehun seemed like he wanted to argue but then decided against it. He let Junmyeon continue. “Family is family. It does not matter whether the family is a royal one or an ordinary one, whether it is rich or poor you should not even think about abandoning it. Because nothing in the world can replace it. And it is coming from a man like me.”

“I don’t want to be impolite but that coming from you is what amazes me the most.” Junmyeon said nothing in reply. Sehun took a deep breath before asking, “Hyung mind if I ask how did your family react when they learned about your sexuality?”

“Huh? Suddenly? Where did that come from?” Junmyeon was clearly taken aback and looked uncomfortable for a moment. It was the nth time in that day when the two men came to a standstill in the middle of a conversation.

“Nowhere. Sorry. Forget I asked.”

“No it’s fine. I don’t know… it was mostly fine I guess. I think there were other pressing issues but my sexuality in particular was not received that badly. 

It might be just that the king could not be bothered about the sexual preferences of someone he did not want to even acknowledge the existence of but he said or did nothing. As far as other people were concerned… my mother and Minseok hyung could not understand it at first and Jongin was too small to have an opinion. But they all came around eventually.

Jongdae was the only one who had truly accepted and supported it without needing a second thought. When I had told him, he had looked me in the eye and asked me ‘So? That changes nothing about you, me or our relationship.’ And right after that he had hugged me hard and long. That was the first time we had hugged in our lifetimes” Junmyeon had a fond smile reminiscing about Jongdae’s reaction from that day which brought a smile to Sehun’s lips as well.

“The King of Angoratalamh does not count. I am glad you had Prince Jongdae. I am glad your other family members supported you eventually. I am glad nobody sent you to a church. I am glad you were not hurt for your sexuality.” Words were out of Sehun’s mouth before he could think them through.

“Church? We are buddhists. What has church got to do with my sexuality?” Sehun realized the slip of his tongue. “Prince Sehun?”

“You follow buddhism? I did not know you were not christian.” Sehun tried to digress.

“Prince Sehun, what has church got to do with liking someone of your own gender?” Junmyeon asked more pointedly this time.

“Nothing. It’s just things I have heard.”

“Like what?”

“Like that the religious leaders in churches believe it is possible to convert one’s sexuality via ungodly methods in the name of god.” The wrath enveloping those words seemed to be too real to have been just originating from some hearsay. Sehun’s eyes had turned red from anger or pain, Junmyeon was not sure. The unshed tears in those eyes and the tremble in Sehun’s hands sent a chill down Junmyeon’s spine and filled his mind with disturbing possibilities.

Junmyeon did not realize when his hand reached out to cup the taller’s cheek and a soft call of ‘Sehun’ escaped his lips.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTES: Hello everyone! Serious things first: Please feel free to point out if I am missing any trigger warnings/tags/disclaimer for this piece of work. I would really appreciate it. It is my first time writing something like this and I do not want to offend or hurt anyone. Please let me know if you find this chapter to be offensive in any manner and I will take appropriate actions to rectify it.
> 
> Now to the lighter stuff: I am so sorry for the slow updates but there have been some things that had been keeping me from making regular updates. But I hope you are finding the updates to be enjoyable at least to make up for the delays. Also I have the next update mostly ready and I hope to be able to post it during the upcoming weekend. So please be on the lookout for a more timely update :D.


	13. Chapter 13

Tired! Burdened! Cautious! Scared! Kyungsoo as the crown prince of Caponterre should not be feeling such but it had been a while since he had felt otherwise. More precisely he felt such ever since the day the King-father and the King had learnt about Sehun’s preferences. Even though the fear and the sense of responsibility towards his siblings had not hit him in full force until Sehun’s return from that god awful place, that elders referred to as the correctional facility for the sinned. 

The place had changed Sehun forever. In the days right after his return, Sehun had been deafeningly quiet and soulless. There were scars all over his body that Kyungsoo did not have the guts to enquire about. It had hurt Kyungsoo to see his brother, who was the life of the palace, become so lifeless. 

Sehun had gotten better with time, though never fully returning to his older self and Kyungsoo felt guilty and responsible for not protecting his younger brother. He still does! The regret still eats him up and renders him sleepless at nights but it had become better since the day he had promised himself to never let anyone take Sehun back to that hell, to never let anyone harm his siblings even if the ones trying to break their young spirits were none other than their parents or their grandfather.

However, playing that part was not always easy. For one, it was nerve-wracking when he thought of the consequences if King-father learned of things he kept under wraps. More importantly, the things he had to do to keep Sehun’s pretences or his sister's uncountable romantic affairs were ghastly at times. Kyungsoo always took upon himself to do the inhumane if it had to be done but that did not mean he was unaffected. Yet he did everything. He would always choose to do it for his siblings. 

Still sometimes, in those rare moments of weakness, he longed to be carefree again. He longed to live in blissful ignorance of his childhood days when his parents were perfect and he idolized his grandfather. Those gone by days when being the obedient and honest son felt right and hiding things about his brother and sister from them never even occurred to him. He missed those days.

And now was another one of those moments. In the morning, Sehun had lashed out at Prince Minseok for Prince Junmyeon and outright refused to participate in the festivities at the fair. Kyungsoo could not shake away the feeling that there was more than just friendship at play for his younger brother to be acting that way. 

Then Ji-Ah and Jongin had blatantly kept flirting all the time they were at the fair, right under the nose of all the royals in the kingdom of Angoratalamh no less. It was good for them to get interested in each other and eventually get married but the way they were going about it in public was not going to be received well by King-father. Kyungsoo could imagine himself explaining his sister’s ‘loose’ behavior to the elder very soon if the latter’s sideway glances at the young couple were anything to go by.

And if all that was not enough, he learned that apparently Sehun was out and about all by himself in an unusual attire. It happened when the members of the two royal families were proceeding back to the palace from the fair with the guards surrounding their convoy and the servants walking behind the carriages and horses. Kyungsoo was not sure why but he happened to turn around with his horse and caught a glimpse of Sehun among the servants. For a moment, a very long moment, he thought he was imagining it all but then he saw Junmyeon right beside his brother and his ominous hunch about the two came back in a gripping vice.

**Sometime earlier…**

Junmyeon and Sehun were lost. One moment they had been casually conversing about the happenings of the day and next they were so engrossed in their heart-to-heart about life that before they even realized they had gone off the track Jongdae had told them to follow.

“Sehun, I am sure we are lost,” Junmyeon said after they had been walking in the woods for at least an hour, not coming across any of the landmarks Jongdae had specified.

“No, hyung. I am sure we will see the structure with the red flag hoisted at its roof right around the corner. Just a little bit more.” As expected there was no such thing around the corner or even after multiple corners to be found.

After running out of false hopes to rely on and finally giving up, Sehun admitted defeat. “Okay maybe we are lost after all.”

“I had told you we had missed taking the right.”

“Which right?”

“Sehun!” Junmyeon tried to sound intimidating but Sehun laughed it off in his attempt to act normal and break the awkwardness he was feeling with the other. Hearing the other call him just by his name and without any title still made his heart skip a beat. He was not sure if Junmyeon was even aware that he had dropped titles with him or was doing it without realizing in a state of panic.

“Should we ask someone for the way?,” Sehun suggested.

“It will be hard to describe the spot we left our horses.”

“Then?”

“I think it would be best to walk back to the palace. We can ask people for the way to that at least.”

“That would be quite a walk. And might I add it could make people suspicious as to why we are asking the directions to the palace.”

Junmyeon pondered over Sehun’s words. “You are possibly right. We could have passed as servants in these clothes but which servant would not know the way to the palace. Or maybe people won’t think much about it. I don’t know. I guess we will have to take that risk if we want to get to the palace.”

Just when they were contemplating their next move, they saw a convoy passing nearby. They were not decided on whether it was their good luck or their bad luck that it happened to be the convoy of royals of Angoratalamn and their guests from Caponterre proceeding towards the palace. Nevertheless they decided to follow it because to them it seemed like the best way to uneventfully get back to the palace in the quickly approaching dark. However, they were unaware of the set of eyes that were going to spot them and recognize them soon.

They stealthily tried to follow the convoy for some distance. However, the guards in the back seemed to be turning more and more suspicious with every passing minute. Every once in a while a guard would turn around to check for threats at the mere rustle of a few leaves or sound of ripples in a puddle. The two men were no longer sure if they could get all the way to the palace in this manner. 

Getting caught following a royal convoy was not going to be dismissed lightly and they could be easily perceived as rebels or spies trying to breach the security of the royal travellers. They needed a change of plan and a way to become a part of the convoy without arousing any suspicion. The perfect opportunity presented itself when the convoy made a brief rest stop.

The two men split and casually tried to mingle with different groups of servants, pretending to be servants themselves. It was no surprise that Junmyeon took no time to make his way into a group but the same could not be said for Sehun who did not seem to be doing well on his own. 

One of the servants must have caught onto a new face amongst them. “Mister, who are you? I have never seen you before.” The man spoke loud enough to seize the attention of a few more around Sehun.

“Um… I have not seen you before either. That may be because I have recently been bestowed the honour to serve the highness.”

The man squinted his eyes, clearly not believing Sehun’s lies. “Whom are you serving?”

“Umm… I am…” Sehun stuttered, his mind raking through the possibilities in his head. “He is under the servitude of Prince Jongdae, both of us are,” Junmyeon answered. Sehun did not expect to see the elder by his side. It was not what they had planned. Sehun could only hope Junmyeon knew what he was doing. 

Junmyeon supplied further. “Since more helpers were needed for the fair today, Prince Jongdae was kind enough to allow his servants to be of help here.” 

“Prince Jongdae?” It was one of the woman servants this time. “I did not know his highness had any.”

“Well he does.” Junmyeon snapped confidently.

“How can we believe them? Can even one of us vouch for them?” The man who spoke seemed to be some sort of supervisor of this group of servants or at least someone with authority. Junmyeon swallowed hard on hearing that and that gave rise to panic in Sehun.

The commotion around them was getting hard to settle and the group of people were closing on them physically and metaphorically. “I can vouch for them.” Kyungsoo’s voice, laced with the hint of finality, boomed through the pack of people. “I have seen them in service to Prince Jongdae and I was informed about them this morning as well.” Junmyeon and Sehun’s eyes became as round as saucers on seeing the crown prince of Caponterre.

They had intended to not get recognized and definitely not by one of their brothers. For Junmyeon, it was like a disaster had stuck and he did not have a good feeling about being able to escape it this time. The pissed expression on Kyungsoo’s face was only adding to that ill feeling.

************************  
So far Kyungsoo had not done anything to raise alarm about Junmyeon and Sehun’s presence. However, it did not put Junmyeon’s mind at ease. He did not do anything up to that point did not mean he would never do anything about it. He might pull something bigger later. Whatever it might be Junmyeon decided to worry and take care of it later.

Because for now he had bigger things to deal with. Like the huge box containing glassware that he was carrying in his arms while walking on his own two feet in what seemed like hundreds and hundreds of miles of distance to the palace. He had never walked so much in his entire life. But at least he could be grateful to Sehun who had taken upon himself to carry the much bigger and the much much heavier box of metalware. 

On the other hand, Sehun had half a mind to reveal his identity on his own to save himself and Junmyeon the trouble of doing the exhausting task but the elder did not have to know that. Sehun had never in his entire life felt more strongly against the unfairness of their world as in that moment when he was one among the servants carrying the weights while the royals members were comfortably travelling on horsebacks and in carriages.

“Hyung, you okay?” Sehun whispered.

“Yeah I guess! You?”

“I would have preferred Kyungsoo hyung to have somehow helped us some more without outing us but this is not so bad.” Junmyeon nodded his head in agreement. 

“I would have preferred Prince Kyungsoo not finding out about us at all but guess we will have to make peace with this for now. I am worried about Jongdae though. Do you think he might still be looking for us?” 

Sehun let out a chuckle. “If I know Prince Jongdae at all I am sure he would be freaking out at the moment and cursing himself and me in the same breath for letting you be alone with me.” Junmyeon squinted his eyes at the insensitive reaction.

“It’s not funny. At least it won’t be when he will give you a piece of his mind.”

“You think I am scared of him?”

“Damn right you are.”

“Oh please I can kick his ass if we were ever to have a fight.” Junmyeon rolled his eyes mockingly with a quiet ‘Yeah right! In your dreams!’. Sehun did not like that the other was not taking him seriously. So he insisted again whiningly. “No I am serious. I can totally beat him to a pulp.”

There was silence for a while. No sassy retort. No rolling of eyes. Just Junmyeon carefully assessing Sehun and what he said. “So you say! But the more I get to know you the more I find it hard to believe that you are capable of hurting anyone.” Junmyeon finally said in earnestness.

Sehun immediately realized that the other was no longer referring to the outcome of his imaginary duel with Jongdae. He gravely replied, “I have been to wars. I have hurt and killed people, whether you believe it or not.”

“Wars are different. As it is said everything is fair in war. You can hurt or kill people on a battlefield does not imply you are capable of violence in day-to-day life.” Sehun was pointedly avoiding looking at the older by now. “Sehun, I don’t think you have ever even laid a finger on someone outside of the battlefield. I don’t believe the rumors.” 

“Who cares what you believe or for that matter what is the truth? No one! No one ever has. No one ever will.”

“You are wrong there. I care. I have started to care... for a while now.” Junmyeon could swear on his life that there were several emotions running through the other’s eyes and none of those could be of a person Sehun had been painted to be.

**************************  
Junmyeon and Sehun finally reached the palace with the convoy without any more unexpected events. That was fortunate because they were too tired to be in any capacity to deal with any new ordeal if it had happened. Junmyeon could swear his feet and arms were going to fall off any minute and he had yet to get to his chamber. He was counting every step he took now. When he glanced sideways, Sehun seemed to be doing better but only slightly. At least all the years of training Sehun had gone through was for nothing.

After ditching the convoy, the two men quietly dragged themselves towards the stables where they had hidden their princely clothes in the morning. Junmyeon in all honesty had half expected to find Jongdae waiting for them there but he still let out a deep sigh of relief when his brother was indeed there, pacing up and down. Worry was etched in bold letters all over his face and it was clear he was on the verge of losing his sanity.

“Dae!” Junmyeon gathered every last ounce of his energy to shout that out and relieve the other of his agony as soon as he came into their sight.

Jongdae sharply turned around on hearing the known voice and then closed his eyes for a moment to thank the heavens before being able to say anything to the two men walking towards him.

“Hyung! What happened? I was so worried when you two did not show up even after the sunset. Are you okay? Tell me you are okay hyung. Tell me before I scoop Prince Sehun’s eyes off his sockets.” Jongdae’s pitch became unusually high while making the threat towards Sehun. Sehun only rolled his eyes in response.

“Sorry, for getting you worried. We got lost. We could not find the spot where we had tied the horses. You won’t believe how we got back to the palace. Know that we just survived it somehow.”

“What do you mean? I can’t even imagine how you got here.”

“We came back with the royal convoy!”

“What?” Jongdae’s eyes were bulging out in shock.

“No one learned about us though!” Sehun supplied quickly in assurance but Junmyeon was quick to burst that bubble of assurance. “Well not exactly true. Prince Kyungsoo now knows that two of us were at the fair.” 

“He won’t do anything.”

“You can’t know that for sure.”

“I will see to that. I promise.” Sehun and Junmyeon argued back and forth for a while Jongdae was still recovering from his state of shock.

“Okay! Okay! Time out! You two are throwing too much at once at me.” Jongdae had to finally interrupt. “Prince Sehun, you will make sure you deal with your brother. And myeoni hyung we should get you back to your chamber already. We will talk more after that. There is so much you need to tell me. Uhh… I knew the day was going to go to shit the moment I saw Prince Sehun walking with you this morning.”

“What did I do?” Sehun was quick to protest.

“Not now.” Jongdae declared with finality to his words. “Good night Prince Sehun. See you… how I wish never.” Jongdae spoke the last words under his breath but they were still audible to Sehun, who pouted. Sehun whined “I am not even talking to you. I am only going to talk to my dear hyung here.” He turned to Junmyeon and sweetly bid him adieu. “Good night Junmyeoni hyung. Sleep tight.”

“Good night Prince Sehun.” Junmyeon spoke with a semblance of smile on his exhausted face.

“What?”

“What?”

“What the hell. Don’t go all Prince with me again! You were just now calling me Sehun.”

“Huh? I did?” Junmyeon faked being confused.

Sehun childishly threw his hands up in the air. “Why are you doing this to me?”

Junmyeon let out a weak chuckle despite being tired to his bone.

*************************  
“Prince Sehun! Your highness, I am afraid thee should not be walking outside the residential quarters alone in the dark.” The head guard saw Sehun while he was walking back from the stables towards the residential quarters. Sehun panicked for a moment before realizing that Junmyeon was probably at a safe distance ahead of him. 

He gathered his wits and replied casually. “Well I was just walking back.”

“Would your highness mind if this servant accompanies him?”

“I think I should be fine but if you must insist you can accompany me.”

“Thank you, your highness. After thee then, your highness.”

The two walked in deafening silence. While Sehun seemed unbothered, the guard was itching to exchange a few words with the royal guest. It was when the two were close to the former's chamber that the guard spoke up. 

“Your highness, can I be brazen enough to express something?”

“Go on!”

“Your highness, it is about this morning… about the exchange between thee and Prince Minseok...”

“You mean how I spoke with Prince Minseok.”

“I am afraid so, your highness.”

“What about it?”

“Prince Minseok is genuinely fond of Prince Junmyeon, we all are. He did not mean to leave out Prince Junmyeon on his own accord. And he had been working really hard to make this event a grand success. More so than ever before because of the esteemed presence of the Royalty from Caponterre this time. I guess what this servant is trying to say...”

“That I was wrong with the way I behaved with Prince Minseok this morning.”

“I would never dare to say anything even close, your highness. I just wanted to present Prince Minseok’s side to thee.”

“Well since you are taking the initiative to advocate so strongly for your Prince Minseok, I think you would not mind hearing some harsh truths about him either. 

For someone who could make so much effort for this irrelevant event for the people he despises, Prince Minseok has never really put any effort to take a stand for Prince Junmyeon, whom you claim he is so fond of. He has been a bystander with everything that has been done and thus I count him as an accomplice in the injustice done to Prince Junmyeon.”

“What Prince Junmyeon has experienced is unfortunate…”

“I am not finished yet so dare not interrupt me again.” Sehun’s anger had flared and even the head guard flinched back in fear. “And you cannot call the things done to Prince Junmyeon unfortunate because fortune had nothing to do with it. Real people like yourself, Prince Minseok and most importantly the King had everything to do with it and for no good reason. In fact no reason at all. 

Prince Junmyeon might see yall’s invisible support as a huge kind gesture, I do not. I see every human in this palace as an accomplice in the injustice done to a kind, innocent man and I can hope and pray you all pay for it someday in the house of god. But trust me I won’t stop at just hoping and praying.”

Saying all that, Sehun stormed off towards his chamber after signaling the head guard not to follow him any further. The head guard bowed his head in guilt. Guilt had been the most overpowering emotion of his existence ever since the second prince was born.

**************************  
 **The Next Day**

“The Queen! Your highness.” Junmyeon stuttered as he sat up.

“I am here as your mother so drop the formality Junmyeon.” The queen continued excitedly. “I managed to ditch the king and his pawns for good this morning.” 

“Were you resting in the middle of the day? Why? Are you not well? Did something happen to you? Should I call for the doctors?” She trailed further when she got over her initial excitement and noticed Junmyeon had been sleeping well into the middle of the day. Junmyeon had been so tired the last night and his feet and arms were hurting so badly that it had been hard for him to even fall asleep all night.

“Mother I am fine. Just a little tired. What brings you here?” Junmyeon asked in amazement.

“Are you sure you are okay? You don’t look so well.” 

“I am fine. Really mother, I am fine.” He assured her fondly on hearing the evident worry in her voice.

“Ohkay. Well I came over to meet you and give you a little something.” The queen motioned the servant accompanying her to place the gift on the prince’s bed. She asked the same servant to leave them alone before addressing Junmyeon again. 

“I saw it at the fair yesterday and could not stop imagining you in this coat. I know you usually prefer to wear simple clothes but I love to see you dressed like a prince. Last time when you were dressed up for the meal with the Oh’s, it reminded me why you were always the most handsome son of mine. I wish I could see you more often like that.”

“Thanks mother. It is beautiful. I will make sure to wear it.”

“Make sure I get to see you whenever you decide to wear it.”

Junmyeon nodded his head. “I will try.”

After a brief moment of comfortable silence, the queen quietly questioned. “Junmyeon, how are you doing?”

“I am fine.”

“No, I mean what are you upto these days? What are you reading these days? Are you eating well? Do you sleep alright? Is everyone taking care of you fine? And has Prince Sehun got off your back? Is he troubling you in any way?” 

Junmyeon smiled at the queen’s concerns. And then slid down to rest his head on the woman’s lap and looked up into her eyes, emoting his love and affection for her. She might be the queen of Angoratalamh but she was just his mother in that moment. 

It took no time for her to begin running her hand through his hair in a soothing way and touch every bit of his face to assure herself he was okay while they talked about everything and nothing. 

They shared frivolous events from their mundane lives with each other. And even though Junmyeon did not share anything about his everyday struggles, his heart felt at ease and filled with warmth even from just talking about these insignificant things with his mother. And it was obvious how grateful the queen felt for the moments she got to share with her favourite son. 

Yes, Junmyeon was her favourite son, had always been and will always be irrespective of whether she said it out loud or not. How can a mother’s heart not favor the child who was kept at a distance from her, his siblings and his freedom all his life but still grew up to be the finest man that he was.

“What are those things on the side table?” The queen pointed at the disarray of inharmonious articles occupying the table beside Junmyeon’s bed.

“Ohh those… everybody got me a little something from the fair yesterday.”

“Everybody?”

“You know ajumma, Eun-Ji, Jung Woo,... “, Junmyeon, with a smile, listed every person who had got him a present, which included almost everyone from his servants and personnel guards. “I told them that they did not have to get me anything but they insisted on me keeping these gifts. They all are very sweet. All of them.

Ajumma got me these delicious dried apricots which are from the farms up north. Jongmin got this net-like thing. He calls it a dreamcatcher and he believes it will protect me from evil. And...”

When Junmyeon realized he had been blabbering for a while without any inputs from his mother, he stopped to gauge her reaction. The woman was teary-eyed and struggling to keep her emotions under control.

“Mother! Was it something I said?”

“No! Not at all. Never! I am glad they all care for you in their own ways.”

“But?”

“It just reminded me how I am only as good as a servant in terms of what I have ever done for you, actually even worse. They get to be there for you everyday, see you through your struggles, maybe hear you vent out your frustrations and do things to help you. And I...”

“Mother, you do your best for me and that is enough.”

“No it is not. I should have insisted on you accompanying us to the fair. Every once in a while I should follow my heart and stand up for you.”

“The consequences won’t be good and both of us know that.”

“But I should at least try. Maybe the king will break one day if I keep trying. Every minute that I spent at the fair yesterday, I only kept thinking about you and how I would have loved for you to be there.”

“There will be fairs in the future that I believe we can visit together.”

“Yes, someday we will. The one yesterday was stupid anyways.”

Junmyeon laughed out before joking, “Minseok hyung will be hurt if he hears that. He worked so hard on this one.”

“Yes he did. I believe the king was very impressed with him yesterday. I hope the king starts thinking about Minseok taking over as the ruler of the kingdom. 

I can’t wait for that day anymore. I can’t wait to cut all ties with that man. I can’t wait for you to have everything that’s rightfully yours. I promise Junmyeon, I won’t look at him ever again, forget adhering to my duties of a wife.”

“Wouldn't that be harsh?” Junmyeon asked worriedly because he knew his mother meant every word of what she had said.

“That man deserves it and worse. He made a queen choose between her title and dignity, he made a woman choose between her marriage and motherhood and worst he made a mother choose between her two kids. You should have hated me all these years for choosing Minseok over you.”

“I do not hate you. In fact, I love you, so much. I never interpreted it as you choosing Minseok hyung over me. I always saw it as you choosing between sending one son to exile within the palace and going into exile yourself with two sons to god knows where. And it does not take much to do the math and realize which option had any hopes of a better future.”

“And yet it did not make anything any more bearable for any of us.” The queen swallowed the lump in her throat before sharing her feelings. “Sometimes, it gets hard for me to even breathe when I dwell on the fact that I loved that man at one point in my life. I prayed for him to be alive all the while he was at war. And now I can’t wait for him to go to hell.”

“Mother please don’t say that.”

“Junmyeon, I want the world to know that there exists a beautiful soul like yours. I want the people of this kingdom to know they have another prince to adore and respect. I want the court to know who actually is the second in line to the throne after Minseok. And I don’t care if the king has to be dead for it to come true. Minseok will make it happen, he has to make it happen. He owes it to me and he owes it to you.”

“Mother!” Junmyeon was shocked at his mother’s continued strong words. He was quiet for a moment before he iterated his thoughts. “I don’t need any of those things. I won’t lie to you. Yes, sometimes I hope to be free. Sometimes, I wish I could go around and about the world outside this palace as I please. But I don’t really need any of those things. Not if they have to come at the cost of our family.”

“Junmyeon, he is not our family. He stopped being a part of it the day he stopped being himself.” The queen held her son’s hand while desperately hoping she could say something, anything to make Junmyeon understand the right from the wrong. 

“Junmyeon, you deserve everything I just said and so much more. And if someone you think of as family is preventing you from having what you deserve then they were never your family in the first place.

And that man has kept you from your freedom, desires and literally even a basic form of life. It has become so bad that you don’t even expect anything now. After all of that how can you think of him as a father. 

We are going to get rid of him and you will have everything and that includes happiness and love, not just my love and love of your siblings but also the love of every citizen of this state, love of every minister in the court and... love of that special man who will be your companion for life. And I really hope to god yours proves to be better than the one he gave me.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> NOTES: Hello everyone! SORRY!!! I know I had almost promised to post way before than now but just....ughh... I have been planning to post the almost finished version of this chapter for the past 2 weekends but something or the other disturbing happens. First Sehun's live happened and it left me sad just thinking how he worries about his weight. Like literally the dude came live because he could not sleep after watching some movie and ended up with more worries :(. I myself have been struggling with weight issues for a while now and yet I can't imagine how much more agonizing it must be for him when he works in an industry that is so focused on looks. As if that was not enough Chanyeol's enlistment news came out. After all that I just did not feel like doing anything related to the EXO and the fandom for a while. And I will be honest I am too tired of hearing just Baekhyun and Jongin talk about missing working with their members every other day. I don't know if they are doing it to reassure the fans about the group's future or overcompensating after being called out by a section of the fandom for joining SuperM. Whatever it is it's getting on my nerves now. So probably I will just stick to my bubble of fics until Jun returns next year. I have realized I can't deal with the fandom and the SM shit unless it is for Junmyeon. I don't know why I am putting all this here but I just needed to let it out. So I guess I am sorry if this rant offends you in any manner.
> 
> Anyways I hope this update made you feel better even if just for few moments. I assure you I am not abandoning this fic or fic writing with Junmyeon as the protagonist. I will hopefully see you soon with the next update. Until then, stay happy :-).


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